Off on an adventure

Last Saturday afternoon W left for his Grand Adventure.

He'll be working in the oil fields of North Dakota.

He had been more than ready to leave for the past 3 weeks, setting a date but then having to miss the deadline due to not finding a place to live. His frustration was just growing week to week, until finally we found a place an hour away. It sounded perfect, but his future boss wanted him to be within 30 minutes as he would be 'on call' and would need to report within 3o minutes. Cancel that plan but at the same time Hubby's old friend told us he could stay with his family until he could find a place. Answer to prayers. The house is small and there are already a lot of people in the family, but he's there and finding a place and pouncing on it will be easier. He says "they're a fun family" so that makes me feel better, now to get to work.

Before he left we snapped a couple of pictures.

Don't I have handsome boys??

I just don't know what happened to my babies!

Me and My Boys!

Four for Friday

#1 ~

G brought this perky 'sunflower' to me!

#2 ~

Yes, I was the Overall Winner of the

Y's SlimDown this summer.

I lost 13 pounds and over 7 inches

in the 6 week program.

#3 ~

is a guessing Game .....

Can you tell what or where this is?

Here's another clue .....

It's W's leg! Look at that WHITE HAIR!?!?

and Whoa Nelly if the sun hits it just right it almost glows!

#4 ~

I made the Paper ....

for chopping veggies!

life on Thursday

Swim Team is over for the summer, so my morning wasn't quite as early.

I made it to work out around 7:30am. Left G at home with a sleeping dad and brother.

Did my last weigh in for the Y's Slim Down....was it enough to win??

Got a frantic phone call just as I was pulling in the drive way from G. WHERE ARE YOU? DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS? yes, it was time for us to be leaving for last day of Strength. He didn't want to be late!!

While G was in Strength I (with others) went to set up the church for our meeting tonight. We had enough people that we made quick time of it!

Picked G up, and came home! When I got here I saw a sight that I very rarely see..... W was cleaning his bathroom. Oh how I wished I would have taken a picture but I didn't want to chance him stopping. He's been playing alot of SandVolley ball this year and I swear he has a sand pit in his bathroom ... Come to think of it I don't think he swept the bathroom!?!?

I was able to get things done this afternoon. For some odd reason I didn't ever pay bills this month so I was eager to get those paid and out of here. That all stopped when I discovered I was out of stamps!

I started my list of things to do tomorrow and Stamps are on the top!

Was able to shower and get ready for Our Relief Society Meeting. It was on Emergency Preparedness. I had asked a Women in our Congregation to take over the planning and organizing the night so my night was a breeze. We had fruit cobblers and homemade ice cream for dessert!

Hubby and G are having a late night fixing G's bike for this IronKid training in the morning. I don't know why Hubby waits so late and G is grumpy! OH, well.......

He's alive

After sleeping almost 24 hours W is now alive again.

He was worn out from his weekend, THEN he had a dental crown yesterday afternoon. Getting a crown is a big deal from anyone but for W it's a bigger deal!

The boy has never taken to Novocain, as in the Novocain doesn't numb his tooth. Poor kid has just gripped the arm of the dental chair for the last couple of fillings he's had! So this Crown was going to be a big deal.

He had novocain, laughing gas, and 3 anti anxiety pills yesterday for his 1 hour 20 minute dental procedure. Came home and went directly to bed. Sweet Megan came over around 8, he woke up long enough for soup and rolls, but that was all.

I'm glad this is over and I'm sure he is also!

New State Records

Meet the new State Record holder in the Dead lift!

(in his age bracket and the weight class)

(this is not a picture of the Dead lift!?!)

W's Top lifts yesterday

squat 425

Bench Press 370

Deadlift 510

A quiet moment before the 510 Dead lift!

(fabulous picture by Megan)

Say WHAT?

Yesterday W was looking for an envelope and stamp. He found the envelope but when he got to the Stamps, he found these....

He then said, "Do we have any different stamps then theses?"

I said, "They're just Stamps, no one cares what stamp you have."

W ~ "Mom, it's for my powerlifting competition for the State games, I can't put a LOVE stamp on it!"

FYI ~ I found him the .....

"Go Green" stamps. He was happy then!

Quick trip

Yesterday we ........

the boys and I

took a quick trip to visit family.

First we stopped to see .....

My Dad and Betty were having a fish fry for their church so we went to see everyone and enjoy Crappie.

Then we stopped by to see ......and had a couple games of Farkle .....

Life on Thursday

This Thursday is the

last day of Elementary school

for our house.

I dropped him off without Fanfare.

A simple

"I love you and enjoy your last day",

as he jumped out car.

Forgetting his lunch, as we would later find out!

I came home to

enjoy the quiet

of the last day of school at home.

I did some

deep pondering,

as this may be the last moment I have to do that.

I called the school

to see what time the picnic lunch would start.

I woke up W at 10:30 to

remind him

he was going to the picnic lunch and play day with G.

We'd all discuss this and knew W going would make a

bigger impression

with G and his friends than MOM going!

W left here LATE (MOM would not have done that)

but got there well before the picnic.

W didn't have lunch because he was running late.

So once they all discovered that G didn't have his lunch

they bailed out of school and went to lunch at Applebees,

just the boys!

They came home ...

G blurted out his last school day,

we went over his Grade card

(an excellent one I must say),

and I handed over his DS!

I went out to

enjoy this beautiful day

by mowing the yard, spraying weeds and looking at my flowers!

Let the summer begin,

all 82 days of it!

Best Mother's day Gift

This year's Mother's day gift has be the best ever!

It was a simple text on Saturday that said ....

"When will you be home? I need to talk."

sent from my 20 year baby!

He still needs his mom!

Last Week's Round up!

Since I have taken a week off from blogging lets just do a simple round up of last week's news

**I subbed a couple of mornings

**Had a PEO luncheon (just confirmed that maybe we should change our luncheon place)

**Had PT just once last week. Seems my Therapist has a fun life with her family!?!

**W's truck has died. We're debating on whether it's permanently dead or if we'll PAY more $$ to relive it!?!

**I sort through G's summer clothes from last year. VERY very few things will fit this year! That boy is just getting taller, not much growth in width but TALLER!

**W's phone died (the night before his truck died). We gave the gift that keeps on giving by getting him a new phone for his birthday... that has yet to come!

On second thought maybe this isn't a round up at all.....I think it was a let the money roam post!

Pinewood Derby

Post Race Face!

Packing it for the Race ......Pit Crew.....1st place Winning Racer

1st place Winning Car

Saturday on the Prairie

SIDE NOTE~ I'm sorry about the spacing of this post, but I've worked on it for a great while and it just won't space right! sorry ......

We started out early, and I mean early for these boys. We left at 7am! and DROVE and DROVE and DROVE!

Our GPS told us once we got on a our major Prairie Highway that we had 104 miles until we turned. Good we settled in, set the cruise control and DROVE!

Seems at 104 miles there was a major Prairie Highway intersection, the GPS old us to stay on the Prairie Highway we were already on and reset itself.

Just how can that be??

Once it reset for the next 30something miles.

We settle in again, set the cruise control and DROVE!

It wasn't rainy, it wasn't snowy, but there was a low cloud deck. At the 30something mile we started to see these huge poles but couldn't see what was at the top. Slowly more and more poles and THEN.... we began to see something dipping out of the clouds. It was as if we were in an scary alien movie.

We were so busy being scared (OK mostly me but I wasn't driving) we missed out 30something turn off!

Just how can this be??

We made it, with plenty of time to spare.

Made it where you ask???

W had a PowerLifting competition!

his final weight on the dead lift was 445 pounds.

HE SET 3 STATE RECORDS! That boy is a freakish beast!

Oh and there was this .....

I kept thinking that this poor boy had a hole in his singlet

and on his hiney no less!

BUT the front was marked with Georgia, it's a peach!

OK this little prairie town we went to.....

there was just something odd about it. It was super small.

There were 2 choices of eating places, DQ and Pizza Hut.

The School was really old, stone but had an amazing football field and track, there was a modern, state of the art activity center, and when we drove around most of the houses were brand new.

Just how can this be?

I couldn't figure out why or how people were moving in this town. There didn't seem to be any big business to have a town that was growing, thus people having new houses AND the new houses weren't in subdivisions. They just along the old streets with a few older homes sprinkled in.

Something just didn't fit with this town.

As we leaving we stopped at DQ to eat, there was plaque that stated

DQ survived the "prairie town" tornado of 2001.

It all began to make since, everything was about 10 years old! New houses sprinkled in along with older ones, along the old streets... it all made since now.

As we drove home, we once again drove by the alien objects dipping out of the clouds only this time the clouds were higher.

I still can't look at them without having that alien thought come into my mind!

After a long drive back home we got home around 9:20pm. I went to bed and the boys all went out!?!

Life on Thursday

I was off and running this morning after putting on my GREEN shirt (Happy St Patrick's Day), I went to visit a friend, went to set up the church for tonight, then I headed to volunteer at G's AR store.

They get points for reading and then they can redeem those points for items. There is always a bigger item, a field trip that they can save their points for and purchase in the spring. I believe there is something smaller in the fall (maybe a movie). Today was the day they could redeem their points so I worked the store for an hour.

It was horribly humid outside and the temp was rising. I actually turned the AC on as I was driving. There was a strong wind and usually that blows the humidity out of here but not today! Shewww it was sticky.

I came home, piddle around when I got just absolutely exhausted. I laid down and SLEPT. I might not have told you this but I was discovered by W, so I might as well fess up! I NAPPED and it FELT GOOD!

Then I watched W watch the NCAA tourny. Our family, as usual filled out their brackets (the deadline was Tuesday, yes there was a deadline this year for your bracket to be posted on the frig!?) and now they sit and watch their bracket fall apart! I believe at one point I heard W state, "This is alot of stress! I don't think I can take it."

Then it was time to run again. Tonight was Relief Society's Monthly Meeting. (Relief Society is our woman's group at church) It was an easy going evening, the ladies were encouraged to bring items that they just never got around to doing and get them done! There were sewing machines set up so there was sewing, there was sorting of pictures, there was logging family history into a computers and then there was just sitting around and visiting! We then had several ladies share some of the preparedness tips.

Git 'r Done Tuesday

Today was

Git 'r Done Tuesday

at my house!

WOW! I loved it!

On any Tuesday I start early with a list and just start marking things off. Today's mode was a if I open a draw I look to see if there is something I can do to make it better.

Can I throw it away? Can I donate something?

Today, I was mostly in the Kitchen this morning.

I loaded the dishwasher, did a quick look through the refrigerator, tossing old things, quickly wiping down the shelves. Swept the floor, wiped down all the counters. Then I moved over to the china cabinet for a quick couple of minutes. I worked on the drawers, ALOT got tossed there!

I love to toss things!

Around noon Stephanie brought a yummy lunch from Molly's Table.

Vegetarian lasagna (with chicken???), a roll and a salad.

Then we got to work.

First upstairs. I had Stephanie work on packing up quilts, and baby clothes. I had purchased tubs months ago so it all had a place, I just needed her to put things in them! I worked on a shelf in the room. There was a ton tossed! and a ton donated! I loved working up there!

Then we came down to the kitchen again. Stephanie and I wiped down my cabinet doors. She's tall so she got the top ones and I got the lower ones.

The last thing ... I set Stephanie up on Facebook.

Even W and G got in on the Git 'r Done mode.

While we were upstairs W replaced a light for me and G (& I) carried all the toss/donate items down from up stairs.

Then G did it!

he swept out the garage without being asked!?

Miracles do happen!

Saturday Hoops Win!

Saturday started the playoff games for G. Fortunately they've started splitting up the teams into Divisions. This means alot less games if you're winning.

The only game they won this year was coached by W. W stepped into coach, when their coach was off somewhere else. He said it was stressful! This was good experience for W and G since they're thinking that W and Hubby will coach G's team next year. I hope this all works out. It will be a male bonding experience for all of them!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Fruit Snack Over Dose!

Monday's Ramblings ~ things heard from my boys

#1
Yesterday Hubby spoke in Church, during his talk he stated that he was about to quote the Chinese Philosophiser, Confucius. Just as Hubby was stating this G turned to me and started laughing, saying .."Dad shouldn't speak in Chinese, he really needs to stick to English."

HUH?? Silly Boy
#2
Today, I texted W asking him if he was going to be home for supper?

W's text ~ "yes, I'll be there, and G really needs a hair cut today"
I stopped to make sure it was W I was chatting with, I though maybe it was Hubby, but no it was W!
Me ~ "G is in a long hair stage right now"
story enhanced ~ last night we had a thunderstorm and G went downstairs to sleep in W's room.
W ~ "He walked into my room last night with only his underwear on and it looked like he had a motorcycle helmet on."

I started laughing hysterical, I couldn't look at poor G with his puffy hair. I then told him we had to 'shape up' his hair.

When I texted W back to say the job was done, he asked "How short?"

Background to the next story .....Last year around Christmas W was shopping and signed up to get Sports Illustrated for free (for 3 mos), Sports Illustrated sent us a card about making sure it was cancelled by Feb 1st. I was hopped up on shoulder narcotics around then so the subscription continued. G has just absorbed this magazine every week. So I went to the Library to get some Sports Illustrated for Kids. He liked those so I got him a subscription to that and planned to cancel the regular Sports Illustrated after March Madness's College Basketball issues.

#3
I was totally waiting for the Sports Illustrated swim suit edition so I could make sure that G didn't get it! Fortunately for us the mail came early that day and we were in the car together when G got it out of the mailbox. With only the swiftness of a mom on a mission, I swooped in and grabbed the magazine before the boy even knew what had hit him! I hid all the mail until the next morning after G had gone to school! When I pulled out the pile of mail and handed it to Hubby, his eye got huge! in a stern voice he asked, "Who bought this?" I reminded him that we had a subscription .... with even bigger eyes ...."They send THIS with the little kid's subscription?" I corrected his thoughts before his eyes fell out of this head! He was so funny!

Monday Ramblings ~ Camera Purge

My camera doesn't talk to my computer!?! Both work great independently of each of they just can't get it together (it's a union thing I'm sure!). Most of the pictures I post here are from my phone, but I do still take pictures with my camera and when I have time I put the memory card in Hubby's laptop, download the pictures then burn a disc and move them in to my computer! Not a horrible process but still a process!

Here are some great shots from the latest Camera Purge ...

G's New Year's Party ~

The boys at Midnight

(Just after their fireworks)

Twister!

Obviously I'm not the only one taking pictures ~

Ya, I created that

or should I say I gave birth to that!

He created THAT!

Outside my Bedroom Window ~

What you can't see is the Cat lurking around the tree!

My animals love me! ~

Last month I was hanging the last set of new curtains in my bedroom. When I started there wasn't anyone outside the window. By the time I finished they were both there, with their tail wagging!

Thing that make me go hmmmmm....

After getting a text hours earlier that W was at his friends house playing video games, then getting a text at 5:52am that says W is spending the night at his friend's house.

**At 5:52am I thinking it's morning and about to get up, not thinking about it as a time to decide to 'spend the night' someplace??? Maybe it's an age gap thing?!?

Random things and Snow

*finally Good news on the medical/financial end of things. W has some gum receeding on a couple of teeth. Our dentist thought it was a condition that happens to people that have had braces and sent him to a Periodonist. If needed the Periodonist would do a small skin graft to the area. NOT NEEDED! The Periodonist thought the receeding was from gritting and clinching his teeth and thought the dentist could just fit him for a mouth piece to keep this from progressing. For once something that didn't require alot of money and surgery to fix!
Maybe 2011 will be our year for good health!

*I signed up to walk my 1/2 marathon. The date is rapidly approaching! PANIC! If you're interested in this, it's all on the workout blog!

*G's Basketball season has started up. They start up really before Christmas break, but it's just one practice and one game then the break so it just doesn't seem right. Now they've started up for good! They lost their first game by quite a bit. G plays with 5th & 6th graders. There is a big difference between 5 grade boys and 6 grade boys in size and talent! G is the smallest player that I've seen thus far. He got knocked around quite a bit but he didn't seem to mind. He didn't mind until Sunday morning when he was sore all over!

*it snowed Monday morning and all day. I don't know how much is out there, but enough. They never cancel school in our district, but they did Monday and Tuesday. I was surprised, since we'd gone in much worst weather in the pass. I suppose it was cancelled since they now have so many walkers.

* I'm creating and teaching a lesson at church in February. I think it will be on HOPE and JOY. Just wish it was already written!

*I will not watch the Bachelor this time! I will NOT, I WILL NOT! I've already watched this guy, he had his chance and he blew it! I WILL NOT WATCH!

* It's cold. This morning when I got up (around 7) the thermostat was -0.4. They say tomorrow will be much colder! If they cancelled for walkers (which I don't know if that was the reason I just speculate) then why don't they cancel for sub zero temperature?