Happy Friday!

We have had some beautiful sunsets lately...this was yesterday's. The colors are never as beautiful as in person, but thought I'd share this one.

It's finally the weekend and I am ready for it! Anna and Jake are both spending the night with friends, so I think I have a hot date! Joe is on call, so we won't go out of town, but at least we can go out and enjoy a nice adult conversation.

Jake bribed me again. I could take a couple of pictures of him if I would jump on the trampoline for 10 minutes. I know that may not seem like much, but after having 2 kids, the thought of jumping, especially on a trampoline, is not a pleasant thought. I jumped for a few minutes and that seemed to be okay with him, so here is my picture!

He and Anna are both growing up so fast...I guess that's why I'm always snapping pictures of them....I know these moments won't last forever.

Well, we got the dog pen shed almost finished. We ordered the metal roofing and it should be in early next week.

Still making plans for our trip to Chicago. Think we are going to stay at the Ritz-Carlton that is in Watertower Plaza...Anna will love that. She can take a quick elevator ride down from the room and shop till her heart just bursts wide open! Still thinking of how we want to tell them...

Well, better get moving. Jake has guitar lessons after school and got to run a few errands before I take Anna to her spend the night party.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Bye for now.

Projects

I don't know about you, but around here we always have "projects" going. Some really big, some not so much. My mom has always told me that she didn't know what Joe and I would do if we ever finished all our projects. It seems as soon as we finish one, we're trying to figure out what the next one will be. That's just the way we are, I guess.

Well, right now, I have about 14 little projects and two sorta big project going. One of the guys that built our house about 3 years ago needed some work, so he called to see if we needed anything done....needless to say, the answer was "YES!!" He came yesterday and is going to build a large cover (about 14' x 35') over our dog pen. Then we are going to build a pergola by our pool, beside our soon to be started outside fireplace. We have always wanted a place to sit outside and roast hotdogs and marshmallows! I'll take plenty of pictures during the process, if anyone wants to take a peek! Anyway, Randy is going to build our cover and pergola, then do some electrical and finishing stuff inside for us. I can't wait to get some of those things finished.

We got our curtains for the bathroom installed yesterday and I am happy with them. A little paint and fabric, who knew?

Now it's on to Anna's room.

We promised her for Christmas she could have her room completely redone and so a few weeks ago she picked out her bed, her very own pillow top mattress, bedside table, dresser/mirror and sofa for her room. That is all she knows....the rest is up to me. She wants it to be modern and "grown up", so I can go from there. She is going to LOVE it!! Can't wait to finish it and show you. I am working on some black and white pictures of her friends and am having a mural painted.....that's all I will say!

The other thing we have going is a suprise Spring Break Trip for the kids. Jake is really into basketball and loves Dwayne Wade. Anna is into anything fashion, shopping, pedicures, manicures...the list goes on and on, but we are going to Chicago! I got tickets to see the Chicago Bulls play Miami Heat (Dwayne Wade's team) and we are going to suprise the kids. They think we are staying home for Spring Break...boy will they be suprised!! I haven't decided how we are going to tell them, but it will be something GOOD!

That is about all for projects. Jake is through with basketball, but Anna is still doing tumbling. She has cheerleader tryouts in March, so we are really working hard on our back handspring.

Here are a few more pictures...

our kitty, Butterscotch

Jake playing outside (basketball, of course)



Anna on the trampoline



and lastly, my new bird feeder

Have a great Wednesday!

Bye for now.

Hello Monday!!!

And "POOF!" there goes another week! Time flies when you aren't blogging!! Last week was pretty uneventful as far as EXCITEMENT goes.

I did get a good picture of the sunset.

And one of Jake tracing a picture of a guitar.

Jake won his second basketballgame!! He scored 10 points! He also played pretty good defense, which was a plus.

The kids had their Valentine's Parties on Thursday. I made some bags of candy for Anna to give out to her friends.

Jake just handed out cards and gave his teacher, Mrs. Phillips, her favorite...M and M's!

While they were partying at school I took the opportunity to work on our bathroom. It has been unfinished since we moved in our house (almost 2 years ago!!), because I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. Fear not, I figured it out. I painted the wall the same color as the rest of the room and I've got a curtain on the way. I can't wait for it to be completed. I'll post a pic when it is finished completely.

This was before I started.

And this the after.

I'm only 5 feet tall, so I've got to get Joe to help me get the 12 foot ladder out to finish the very top!

Anna and Jake were out of school Friday and are out today and tomorrow also. We went to Fayetteville for Valentine's. Joe got us two suites, one for us and one for Gran and Papa and the kids. A fun time was had by all!

Sorry about the quality of this picture, but the lighting wasn't the best.

Anna had been wanting this dress for about 3 weeks. She saw it in a store window and politely mentioned it each and every time we passed this store. Joe and I got it for her for Valentines. It fit her perfect, thankfully.

Anna is a shop-a-holic!!!! She hits every Hollister, Abercrombe, Forever 21, Wet Seal, well you see where I am going with this. I hate those stores...the smell, the LOUD music, all of it. Guess I'm just getting too old.

This is Anna and her "Valentine". He came over bearing gifts since we weren't here for the big day. She would kill me if she knew I snuck a picture of them outside watching Jake play basketball....

Gotta get ready for a game tonight. Best wishes for a great week!

Bye for now.

.

Dog fight

Rain, rain, and more rain...that is our forecast for the next 3 days. We need rain, so I guess I shouldn't complaint too much. It was a long week, last week, so I didn't get to blog...Sorry!

Our sweet Jada got in two dog fights last week, so I spent most of my time here....

After being assured that there were no major vessels involved we went home.

Then, two days later, we were back after another incident. I think we have a bully on our hands!! Actually, I think she just got tangled in a dog fight and probably was an innocent bystander. That is my story and I'm sticking to it!

This is her after the second vet visit.

This was actually the worse of the two incidents. She had 3 puncture wounds to her neck and a torn muscle in her neck as well. She is taking antibiotics and pain medicine, so hopefully we will make a full recovery, with the exception of the muscle, which is going to leave a permanent indention in her neck.

On to other stuff...Jake won his first basketball game of the season! He scored 6 points!! He was so proud and we were too!! They play with everything they have in them, but we just never could seem to get the win. David came home with us after the game for a little celebration playtime!!

Anna has finished cheerleading for this year. She has decided to tryout again, so she will continue tumbling and hopefully get her round off-back handspring soon!!!

This is a picture from her last peprally.

I would like to say "Happy Birthday" to Nick Dunaway! His birthday was January 31! I made him a card, but didn't want to post it until he got it in the mail!!!

Happy Birthday Nick!!

Hope you have a great Monday!

Bye for now...

January 29, 2009

It's still pretty cold here. We were lucky in the fact that we missed the brunt of the ice storm...it all went just a little north of us.

Left yesterday afternoon for the AC/DC concert. Stopped in Conway and ate at a neat little place called Mike's on Front Street. Had my favorite Fettuccine Alfredeaux. Anna was the first to point out, "That's not how you spell Alfredo!!" Then we had a geography/language lesson about the French living in New Orleans. The food was great. Anna had a fillet that would melt in your mouth. Joe had Tilapia and Jake had Fire Stoned Pizza.

After that we headed toward Little Rock for a little Rock N Roll with AC/DC. I had my camera taken away by a security guard, but not before I got a great video of Runaway Train. It was not a big incident, but I really wanted to get more pictures!!

Here is a picture of Anna and Jake before the concert.

Our tickets.

Jake's guitar-playing idol, Angus Young

It amazes me that these guys are still playing this music at their ages!! Doing what they do, day in and day out, is somewhat amazing. I saw them when I was in the 11th grade (some 27 years ago) and I don't remember my ears ringing the next day like they are at this very moment!!!

Nothing going on tonight, so it's going to be an early supper and early to bed kind of night!! We didn't get home until midnight last night and I am ready for a good nights sleep.

Hope you have a great Thursday....we're so close to the weekend I can taste it!! Gotta to get going to pick up the kiddos!

Bye for now.

January 27, 2009

Going to bed last night I felt 99% sure the kids and I could sleep in and wake up around 9:30. I figured we would stay in our PJ's until lunch or so, then cook a big pot of soup for supper! WRONG!!! I got up at 5 am, then again at 6:30 to scan the list of school closing on the television, only to NOT see Clarksville Public School on the huge list! So, as much as I hated it, I got my little ones up, coaxed them to get dressed and drove their sad little faces to school. Jake had a science test that I told him he didn't need to study for, because I felt sure they wouldn't be in school! We studied this morning before we left and he informed me on the way to school that the test was open book. This may not end well! Open book tests were always the hardest when I was in school some 25 years ago. It usually meant that the answers weren't in that "opened book"!!!

It rained all night and all day. The temperature has been hovering at the 35 degree mark almost all day, so things aren't freezing right now. The forecast predicts the temperature to drop to around 24 degrees in the next few hours and things are going to get worse. Maybe tomorrow we can sleep until 9:30, stay in our PJ's until....nevermind.



Hope your day is sunny and bright....

Bye for now!

Happy Monday

Got to play a little more with Photoshop Elements 5 this weekend and here is the scrapbook page I created. The journaling reads: "You made me play basketball with you for an hour before you would let me take this picture." It was a bribe I didn't mind at all!

We had a great weekend. Joe had to go to Alma to do physicals and attend boxing matches, so Jake and I went along for the ride. I helped with the physicals, so we got that done pretty quick...secretly, I think that is why he wanted me to go...anyway, he rewarded me by letting me go to Fort Smith while the matches were going on! Yeah!!! I went to Michael's and Hobby Lobby and still got back to Alma to see about 5 fights.


Anna has been under the weather for the last week. Here she is eating her Hamburger Helper on Sunday. She will be shining again soon, I'm sure.


We had lots of deer visit yesterday. I saw six making their way across our pasture late yesterday afternoon. (Looks like they saw me too!) Joe filled up their feeder Saturday, so they were on an eating freenzy!

This afternoon the weather is suppose to take a drastic turn for the worse. They are predicting freezing rain and ice with accumulations of up to an inch!! Yuck!! We have a tree in front of our house that isn't going to appreciated frozen rain on its leaves!

Hope you all have a wonderful Monday. Stay warm and safe!

Bye for now.

It's early here, but if I don't post now, it may not get posted!

Yesterday, after school, Jake wanted to play/practice basketball. I had some other things in mind, like taking pictures of him. We compromised and after about an hour of basketball he promised me a couple of pictures.




I think it was worth it, cause he let me get a couple of good shots without much trouble....and Jake did excellent at his game last night. No, I'm not saying we WON, but, against the #1 team, we held our own.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. It is suppose to get a little cooler tomorrow and there is a chance of snow Monday and Tuesday. Anna has been sick, but has not missed any school. I gave her a shot last night and hope that she is better by later today. She is our sunshine and right now, she's a little cloudy! Jake has basketball practice Sunday, so we'll be staying in town.

Next week will be super busy. Anna has a ballgame Monday, Jake has a game Tuesday (@ 8:30)!! We are going to see AC/DC on Wednesday, Joe is on call Thursday, and both Anna and Jake have ballgames on Friday!!Whew!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Bye for now!

January 22, 2009 (Part 2)

As I promised, here are my pictures from yesterday.....and a couple of digital scrap attempts.

Got a quick shot of myself in the rear-view mirror. No cars were coming as you can see!!

First, this is the road I travel at least twice a day, once going west and once going east! This is the route to take Anna and Jake to school each day...

Downtown Clarksville, Arkansas

Here are a some of the digital scrapbook pages I have done. I used a couple of old pictures, just playing with the program and learning as I go. This one is Joe and Anna at Joe's mom's house several years ago.

This picture is of Anna and Jake before Christmas in 2007.

And as I was going through some of my pictures I found this one...thought it was pretty appropriate for today.

We visited Washington, D.C. in 2006. It was a great trip for our family.

Bye for now!