This N That

First Communion Photos

I took some photos of Jill's daughter Izabelle before her first communion.
I finished editing them tonight and thought I would post a few here to give Jill a sneak peek.

Photos...

already posted on facebook, so a boring redo for my friends there....but my mom isn't on facebook and i think she would like to see these.

going out to dinner tonight to celebrate a couple of birthdays, and today is my anniversary.  barry and i had lunch together today and we will just go out together another night.  cause he is cool like that. :o)

i am feeling more confident in my photography and editing abilities.  i know i have a lot to learn, but i think i am ready to take the plunge and start a photography business.  this is something i have wanted to do for about 2 years now and have always felt i wasn't good enough.  if you or someone you know is interested in having pictures made individually or as a family let me know.  i will be in my portfolio building stage and my prices will reflect that. :o)

Hayden Goodness

Hello, it is me again.
Do you remember me?
Do you even check this blog anymore?
Poor typepad is losing miserably to facebook.

Anyhow...from Hayden today:

Mom, You know ding dong ditch?
Well the UPS man always ditches.
He ditches everybody.
He goes up, rings the bell.
Leaves a box and walks away.
He ditches.

He is so funny.
He is always thinking.

The other night out of the blue he yells out-
H: MOM! I know what 5 + 6 is.
me: What is it?
H: It is 11
me: right! how did you figure that out?
H: Well, 5+5 is 10, so 5 + 6 is 11!
me: you are right Hayden, so what is 5 + 7 (just making sure he gets it)
H: 12!

brilliant I tell ya, and he isn't in kindergarten yet.

Hayden also had a field trip the other day. If you are on facebook, you have seen these.  If not, you get something new to look at.

I guess I went with the or so part...

I had created this cute little menu, drawn out with colored pencils around Thanksgiving time.  It was fun. I had wanted to share a picture of it.  I know I took one, but I can't seem to find it.
I have made menus now several times and posted them on my fridge for the kids.  I haven't been as creative as the first time around, but they love going to look and see what is for dinner for the week and then checking it out each day.  Even if they don't love what we are having that night.  It has been nice and I have been doing a little better each week on not eating out as much.
:o)
So, for fun I will tell you what we had this week.  I meant to come on here and post it at the beginning, but well, I didn't make it!
Monday
Chicken and Dumplings
Broccoli
Carrots
Tuesday
Pork Roast
Mashed Potatoes
Lima Beans
Baked Apples
Wednesday
Steak and Cheese sandwiches (made with real steak sliced into strips, with mushrooms, green peppers & onions with mozzerella cheese)
French Fries
Homemade Mac and Cheese
Thursday
ok, so I strayed from what was on tap...but we had
French Toast
Bacon
Friday
Barbecue Pork Sandwiches (the leftover pork roast, shredded with homemade barbecue sauce)
Coleslaw
Baked Beans
and let's be honest, my kids aren't going to eat it, so they are going to get nasty Little Ceaser's Pizza if I feel like going out in the bitter cold!!!
Saturday
We have indoor soccer tournament, plus rec indoor soccer and I have a baby shower I am going to, I imagine this will be our eating out night!!!!

In other news, we had our fireplace converted from gas to a real wood hunk of burning love fireplace.  ha ha  It had a real chimney but had gas logs in it.  I am tired of gas logs, I have always wanted the real crackle and pop and smell of a real fire.  Not to mention I really like to play with the fire.  So, my honey, who loves me dearly let me have my way and we now have the real mccoy.  Here is a photo from our first fire ever.  We are now on our second load of wood and I couldn't be happier.

Christmas was very nice this year.  It was fun decorating this house and I was pleased with the results.  I already posted my photos on facebook.  What? You aren't on facebook, so you haven't seen the pictures?  How can this be?  Really, hurry over there and make an account.  I will be your friend. :o)  It is like myspace for grown ups, ha.  I am not into myspace at all.  Facebook, different story.  Okay, then here are a few photos of around my house at Christmastime.  You can still see most of this stuff at my house at this very moment.  It is just all crammed into the dining room.  I am hoping to really apply myself next week and get it all organized into containers and onto shelves in our storage room.

I think I will end on something funny Hayden told me the other day.
We had been shopping for baby things and talking about babies and he said "Mom, you know when I was born?  I would have stayed asleep, except you know who woke me up?"  Who, I said?  "Dalton!"

Poor D - he gets blamed for everything!!

to hold you over for an hour or so...

I love Calvin and Hobbes.  I know, I am a girl, but this still cracks me up!

I have scrapped a few things, I will photograph them tomorrow and share them.

I have been working on cooking at home more and eating out less.  I made a menu starting with yesterday and going to next Saturday.  I took a picture of it too, I will post that later tonight.

Sorry I have been gone so long, I forget that not everyone that reads this is on facebook.  I have deserted typepad for facebook, although it isn't really the same thing, it can be done in smaller spurts of time.

I love Calvin and Hobbes.  I know, I am a girl, but this still cracks me up!

I have scrapped a few things, I will photograph them tomorrow and share them.

I have been working on cooking at home more and eating out less.  I made a menu starting with yesterday and going to next Saturday.  I took a picture of it too, I will post that later tonight.

Sorry I have been gone so long, I forget that not everyone that reads this is on facebook.  I have deserted typepad for facebook, although it isn't really the same thing, it can be done in smaller spurts of time.

What I've Been Up To...

Well, a lot of driving kids back and forth...school, soccer practice and allergy shot appointments...
And I just enjoyed a wonderful vacation with my friends from way back when I used to work, to a delightful cabin in West Virginia.

We ate and played cards and dominoes and went on many a "safari" looking for bears, turkeys, owls and deer.  We didn't find the owl from last year or a bear, but we did find turkeys and deer and a hornets nest even.  Along with some spectacular mountain views.

Here are some photos from the weekend to enjoy!

I was also able to take a few pictures of my friend Anne's adorable little boys.It was like 2 in the afternoon so not exactly prime photo shoot time, but we had to work with what was available since I needed to be at the airport at 3.  Most didn't turn out, but the few that did were pretty darn good I think.  You can let me know if I am wrong!! Here are a few... look at the lashes on that boy!!!!

And finally one of my friend Ruth that I took...her husband wanted a photo of her for his birthday, the quilt was made by his grandmother (I think that is right, Ruth?)

Who Knew....

That my brother even knew I blogged?

He commented on my I have a question post....

I found it quite interesting....I am wondering if any of you will too.

His quote about the mark of the beast...is from the Bible in Revelation 13 if you are interested.

:o)  I am going to cut and paste his comment so you don't have to go find it...

So it comes to this. It's your brother typing to you now. Basically your right on. As the saying goes, there are none so blind, as those who will not see. Your invitation to receive comments from the other side is a bit startling to me as I am confounded by why you would want to give others the opportunity to dissuade you from your own thoughts and opinions. If you feel you are not in possession of all the facts perhaps you should seek them out on your own in earnest rather than invite the other equally biased side to fill them in for you. Our economy is quite large. And unfortunately it is driven primarily by consumption which means that unless we are constantly spending our currency and allowing it to change hands within itself it will stall. Almost every major industry in our country produces nothing more than intangible and mostly perceived goods. By that I mean that almost everything we spend our money on here in the United States that is directly derived from the United States is nothing more than thin air. We actually produce next to nothing here anymore save food and forestry. FedEx, UPS, DHL, major companies, produce or manufacture nothing. They sell service. ATT, Comcast, Bell South, sell service. Walmart, Target, K-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, all sell actual products 94% of which are made in other countries. So when we buy these goods our money goes into those economies and strengthens those country's economies rather than our own. In turn those countries take our own money and loan it back t o us with interest. Our Government owes China billions and billions as well as other countries. The Chinese and other foreign States also take our dollars and reinvest them here by buying business here and employing us to work for them further adding to the transfer of our wealth. For example, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Hyundia, Lexus, all owned by Japanese businessmen. They came here, bought some factories and hired American workers. So they can say that the Cars are made in America, by American workers, but the profits still go to the Japanese owners, in Japan. And the parts to make those cars made here in the good 'ol US of A? They come from China and Japan on boats to our ports and get a train ride to the factories. The same is true for Gasoline. Crude oil bought in its largest portion from the middle east comes here and we make plastics, tires, asphalt, chewing gum, and yes diesel and gasoline from it. Even the coating surrounding the headache medicine you took last night is made from refining crude oil. But the sad fact is all these wonderful things come from some where else and the money we have gets sent over seas.
Just google search the growth and development of Dubai and you'll see what the American dollar is doing for the people over there. They even have a totally indoor ski resort in the middle of the dessert. The truth is available for anyone who is willing to miss an episode of Desperate House Wives or Two and a Half Men to look for it. So what happens when year after year all this money keeps going away? Well there's less and less of it circulating right here in the country because it's busy being circulated across the globe and used to our detriment by the countries we gave it to. Now enter stage left, the Federal reserve. Eventually after a six or seven year orgy of spending by the American consumer it's time to pay the piper and the reality that the money isn't here any more takes effect. Big companies who employ thousands of people find that the bottom line cant get any better for the stockholders under the current business model and the only way to remain profitable is to cut back on labor. Layoffs ensue, outsourcing to other countries begins to look attractive and suddenly the unemployment rate starts to rise. This means less money in the hands of consumers, and frankly less consumers as a whole which means there's not a lot of spending going on. In turn the slower pace of spending lessons the total profit in dollars of the big companies. While the margins may be good due to the artificial effects of the cuts in labor the overall total is less which means that the Federal Government isn't collecting as much income tax. So the Government cof fers start to suffer and there isn't enough money to pay for publicly funded abortions at the planned parenthood office or midnight basketball to keep the poor indigent inner city kids off the crack rock. So the Government rather than cutting some of its bullshit social boondoggles decides to raise the tax on everything from gasoline, to agricultural products, to hotel rooms to even the federal tax applied to your phone bill eating up even more of your discretionary money. Which leads to even less spending on your part which weakens the economy even more. And the cycle continues its downward spiral. So your Government looks to paragraph three of this diatribe and says, "Hey remember how great it was when we were all spending money and watching our MTV? Wouldn't it be great if we could all just get back to basics like HD TV and drinking till we fall down?" What we need is to get a bunch of money floating around again. Hey Federal reserve, what say you go ahead and print off another zillion dollars off the old printer and lets hand everybody a wad of cash. No, really, it's cool, just blow it all on hats." So the Fed says, "No problem Congress, we'll loan you all the green backs you want just sign here and initial here where it says how much interest we want back in return." Next thing you know every broke Dick Huckleberry from Two Egg, to Shakytown is sporting a new pair of Nikes and driving a Hummer. And the money is flowing again. Now enter the Saudis stage right. They start seeing all that's going on over there in America and they get to talking with their buddies the Chi-Coms who also happen to be becoming a bigger customer than the U.S. And they say, "Hey Chi-Coms take a break for minute from running over your college students in the middle of Tiananman square and let's mull this over for a minute. Have you noticed that the Americans never seem to run out of money? I think they just print whatever the hell they need and send it to us. You suppose this stuff is really worth anything?" And the Chi-Coms say, "I don't know, but they owe us a butt load of money and we're up to our asses in grain and lumber so we're running out of justification to take this crap ourselves." Next thing you know the dollar has no confidence around the world as everybody starts getting wise to the fact that we just keep printing what we need and handing it over like nobody's gonna notice." So everybody from the Germa ns to the Old man from Nantucket starts lowering the value of the dollar as it relates to his own currency." So a dollars worth of oil is no longer a dollars worth of oil. It looks more like a dollar will get you twenty cents worth now so we have to give them even more dollars for the same dam product that's being pumped out of the ground by the same old rig that was right there doing its thing twenty years ago. Call it Republican, or call it Democratic failure to look out for the American people. it really doesn't matter because what it really is, is INFLATION. And it's being done on purpose by forces larger than the US Congress, The US Government, or even its little puppet boy the President. "and he causeth all both great and small, rich and poor to receive the mark and that no man might buy or sell save he that hath the mark..." Make no mistake the dollar will fail completely and it will fail sooner rather than later. Tomorrow? Probably not thanks to creative shenanigans on the part of those with more brain power than I can muster, but it's coming. Most people don't even know about the trans-Texas-corridor. You should google it or yahoo it, or whatever engine you want. You can even go to texas.gov and read all about it. The plans for a highway leading right out of Mexico straight through the United States and into Canada are under way. They are confiscating land from Texans right now by abusing the eminent domain laws and stealing the land right out from under the farmers. The highway said to be the first step to ushering in unfettered trade commerce between the three countries. Why? Because the formation of new union is about to take place. The North American Union complete with it's own currency to take the place of the Canadian Dollar, the U.S. Dollar and the Mexican Peso. Its name...th e Amero. The new Union will allow the free flow of any one from either of the three countries into and out of each other without the need for a passport. Heard any news on the progress of that big ass fence on the Mexican border President Bush promised us three and a half years ago? I didn't think so. But I'll give you one. "They aint workin' on it anymore." It's already been done on two continents without the slightest eyebrow being raised by the public at large. The African Union is already in place. And you won't find a German Mark in circulation any more or any Franks or Ruebens. What you will find is the Euro which is now the currency being floated around in the European Union. One of the other already existing and newly formed Unions touting a new currency that is supposed to bolster the economy for the whole and relinquish the bad debt accrued by the previous currency. The fourth piece to the puzzle will come with the advent of the Asian Union and once the four Unions have been completed the next step will be to combine the four into one world union and at that time everyone on the planet will be using the same currency with the same name. Only it won't be a currency at all. it will be an account with credit units assigned to you with your GUI or Global Unique Identifier so you will no longer be free to spend your m oney as you wish where you wish with anonymity. Everything will be electronically transferred between accounts and the movement will be of credits and debits rather than the good standing of a piece of paper with a printed value on it. "and he causeth all both great and small, rich and poor to receive the mark and that no man might buy or sell save he who hath the mark." Eventually some catastrophic event will take place that will cause the powers that be at the time to polarize the entire planet. My personal opinion is the "Global Warming" scam being perpetrated will play a role. Because no matter where you live on the planet surely you don't want to lose your sacred earth and perish for all of eternity with the rest of the human race. It's a great issue that can be forced down everyone on the planet's throat. Don't do your part to save the earth and live as one big happy community for the betterment of the human race and well, we'll just cut off your credits and you won't get any bread or milk. Then you'll have to resort to stealing and that will get you a first class ticket to forced government labor where you can build roads for free for the rest of your life or take your last "shower" down that long dark corridor over there. It's already been proven that AMERICANS will give up their liberties for security with the passage of the Patriot Act. We don't mind being wiretapped, or the fact that this post will be stored on an NSA computer to be sorted and filtered and examined to identify whether or not I am a terrorist or just an unpatriotic problem child who may need to be monitored more closely for a few years. We don't mind being searched like cattle before we go on vacation. And we will let any willy nilly doctor inject our bodies with unproven and untested vaccines to diseases we have little or zero chance of ever coming in contact with so long as they promise it's for our own good. As long as we don't have to think about it we'll take just about any trespass they can dish out. Just give me a little blue pill when I want to get it on, and pass me my flonase so I can breathe clearly while I'm doing it. And can I get some hair tonic too? Since I got my eyes lasiked I've noticed I'm thinning a bit. Most people just don't get it. And that's exactly they way it's designed to be. Keep the show going over here on the left, while on the right the Crips are raiding the liquor store. Don't get bogged down over gas prices and who's fault it is. Sure we can argue that every time a Democrat is president the country is better off. But is that due to the fact that the effects of a Republican administration previously are just then starting to take effect? Or can we say that the Democrat instituted more Government freebies to the masses made them feel better so they went on a spending spree and that made it all better? You decide. I say the picture is much bigger if you choose to see it. You can live frightened. You can live in denial. You can do whatever you want with it. But it won't change the reality. If you believe your Bible, and I do, you can rejoice in the fact that you already know how it's going to go down for the world. And you have something that no one else has had in our brief history. You have right in front of your eyes the unfolding of prophecy to the letter that should remove any doubt from your mind about that which you have staked your eternal disposition upon. "Permit me to issue and control the money of a nation and I care not who makes its laws" --Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild Now go take on the day!

The birthday boy....

here he is....cute little five year old thing.

boo hoo, can you believe he is five already?

i think he had a good day.  we got donuts and went to cracker barrell.  He used he birthday money to buy a webkins.

I have some other cute pictures, but I liked this one. :o)

I have a question....

okay, so i am really IRRITATED right now with gas prices.

walmart's gas went up 20 cents between coming home from taking cody to school and then taking hayden to school.

a new gas station had it at 3.53 a gallon when i passed it on my way to haydens school.  should i mention that you can practically see the school from the gas station.  when i came back from dropping him off, it was, you guessed it, 3.79 a gallon.

i reluctantly paid 3.69 a gallon at home depot and then passed the bp who had gone down from 3.59 earlier (i didn't look on my way back out because i was so mad about walmarts price, i assumed it had gone up too since they are across the street and walmart is always cheaper) to 3.53.  darn it.

so all this whining about the economy and all the foreclosures and the terrible housing market, gas prices, food prices etc.

everyone wants to point the finger and say it is all bush's fault.  his economic policy whatever...

i am really no expert in politics and honestly i don't want to be for a variety of reasons...

it is important who the president is and all, but he doesn't do everything (i remember something about checks and balances back in school)...it seems to me these problems began with the DEMOCRATIC congress...

so can someone please explain to me how all this is bush's fault? and how we don't want "more of the same"...i am thinking we need to get a republican congress again.  call me crazy...and i know someone will and that is okay because honestly i am a little crazy, but i am not buying all this "bad bush" media nonsense.

really i welcome all the comments, democrats and republicans alike.
it is okay that we don't agree, but maybe you can open my eyes to something and i can open yours to something.  our opinions may not change but i always welcome a different point of view to think on.

i don't really care who fixes it, just somebody do it.

Still

Hide me now
Under your wings
Cover me
within your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God

Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know his power
In quietness and trust

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are king over the flood
I will be still and know you are God

I should mention that this is a song, I did NOT write this myself!  You can find it on YouTube if you search HIllsong Still.