Kyle's School Project

Kyle had to do a project where he made and designed a musical instrument. He chose the Bongo drums.

I always get very excited when we have PAINT out for the boys to use.

Notice my VERY BEAUTIFUL ALMOST NEW dining room table. This is also known as a card table...

This is a picture of him painting them bright colors. The red tape in the middle is so that there will be a straight black line when we pull it off.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished...

Tonight is a story of Tim, the Tool Man Taylor's adventures--AKA ME....

I have been wanting to change out my light fixtures and cabinet pulls ever since we got the new colors in our kitchen. Evan & I decided to go ahead and turn off the electrical current and do it ourselves. Evan is really gifted at any home projects, so I thought he was great in this project.

Evan helped by taking down the old brass fixture and I put up the bar for the new one. I'm feeling good about right at that moment since I've turned off the correct circuit breaker so we haven't gotten knocked off the table by an electrical current.

After this point, I wired the black, white & copper/ground wire in. I then needed Evan to hold the new fixture while I put in the new screws.

This is the "before picture" of our table...

And THIS is the "after picture"...

Now, if you can't see any difference in the two photos above, you probably shouldn't even bother reading the rest of the story...

The moral of the story is... DON'T STAND ON A TABLE TO CHANGE LIGHT FIXTURES--& ESPECIALLY DON'T ADD YOUR ALMOST 6 ft tall son up there with you to finish the job.

Here is the end result...

So this is the story of how my great intentions did not result in success... believe me, this color coordinated bruised arm was NOT worth the funny story above.

If you can laugh at it, you can live with it... sometimes, it takes a few days to get to the part where you realize that you can laugh at it... --with the help of Loritab anyway... It really could be worse, though--no broken bones--just some sore joints and wounded pride... :)

Is he a hottie or what?? or NOT...

The other day I was leaving a parking lot and as I was backing out, I almost wrecked... Luckily, I had my trusty camera because words could not describe what I saw. It did take me a few minutes to actually get it out, focus, etc. so this is the closest I could to get the object of my affection... or should I say "the object of my OBJECTION..."


Does this guy really THINK he looks cool? Every 2 steps he had to pull up his pants to below his butt so he could keep walking without them falling to his ankles. I was truly embarrassed for him. He was definitely still a teenager and already had fat rolls & wanted the public to see more of his body...

FYI-I recently found out that the baggy pants started out because people who were put into prisons were using their belts to hang themselves. Since prisons have standard uniform sizes, many pants were too big.

It gets better!!! Then, the boys who wanted to become another man's "woman" would let everyone know by letting their pants hang even lower for easy access... I wonder if this cool kid knows that!!!

Farmtown--much easier, but no real food there...

Since I have been on farm town (my very pretty, but very fake farm on Facebook)... I decided to work on (& eat) some of those real vegetables I've also been farming this summer...

How do you do this, you ask???

SO... Here is what you need--some clean Mason Jars and lids...

AND...the most important part...

lots of TOMATOES...

Good looking tomatoes !!

(Aren't they pretty ??)

That pioneer woman website has nothing on me... (see www.thepioneerwoman.com )

Then comes all of the fun!

First, you boil the tomatoes so that it is easier to peel off the skins. You then peel them while yelping a little as they are still hot and it is no fun to actually hold and peel them at this point! Mark and I thank my Mom for that very valuable bit of information which has saved many hours of work!

Then you let them get really hot (the tomatoes, I mean) & them put them in the jars.

You need some seasonings which mainly include SALT, yes good old fashioned, raise your blood pressure... SALT!

Then, have your very helpful husband to put the peeled hot tomatoes into the jars, and put lids on them. Then , put them in a pot especially made for the process, cover and heat to high to seal the jars. (He kind of does a lot of this part of the process!)

Also, very important is to grab any available kids who wander through the kitchen at this point and have them help with the process. (PS-never mind that my child has enough food on his face to scrape off and use for a snack later.)

Put up for a few weeks and you will be quite excited to have these when it is winter and the other alternative is those crappy greenhouse tomatoes at the grocery store... at the rock bottom price of $3 per pound!

It is very important to note at this point that we get a LOT more than just one quart of tomatoes... I'd rather work at Farmtown than do all of that work for one quart!

Your cup or your cup???

It wasn't today, but very recently, my youngest son Kyle calls me in a panic from the baseball field. (Thankfully, we live within a 1/2 mile of our home away from home.)

He says--"Mom, please bring me my new cup--I have to have it now so I can play." I am thinking that he probably doesn't have his gatorade & has to have some liquids for the coaches to let him play. I look around and can't find it--calling back, he says "it's the one with the red stripe on the top of it." Finally, I am quite frustrated...what does it matter which cup you have?...

His answer--"no, not that kind of cup. I need the cup for my penis..." I can't pitch without it--the coach said." Well, HOW'S A GIRL TO KNOW???
I did manage to find it on time for the superstar to be able to pitch in his game. Gotta love those boys!

We need a new website WHOGIVESACRAP.COM

With all of the real problems we have in our nation and world, I am totally over whether Brad Pitt is F'ing Jennifer or Angelina. He can't be THAT good!

I also don't care "who wore it better" when comparing some crazy $500 outfit that two overpaid, underweight actresses happen to have chosen to wear out for people to see.

Just a few random thoughts from an underpaid, overweight non-actress who buys the same off the rack clothes that many other people in the same city that I live in also purchase. Thankfully, there is no paparazzi to critique me!

19 Years...

19 Years ago today after dating for 7+ years, two people got married and probably have lasted longer than most in the audience would have bet on! There have been many times that have been great fun, many times that tested their patience, three boys that can drive them nuts, but it has all made for more memories that either can remember! It is strange when the realization hits that you have been with someone for more years of your life, than you have been without them!

I'll have to find and post some of our older pictures with all of the big hair and a lesser amount of wrinkles!

(The picture above is at a Cubs/Braves game this past fall. The Cubs WON!)

Evan- -with his 2 best friends-a Gibson & a Fender

After Evan got his braces off, we got one free 8*10 from Loveless Photography. Of course, they know that parents can resist good photos-especially when I get very few of Evan. The others have countless baseball pictures, but his can be few and far between!

This is the guitar that he got with last year's birthday money. It took us months, literally, to get it. This particular Fender was on backorder forever (or so it seemed to Evan)!

Here is his Gibson--technically, it is Mark's, but he never really played it, so Evan has acquired it and it hangs in his room. He wanted to wear his "Slash" t-shirt for part of his photos.

This is his "concert silouette" pose! I never would have purchased it, but he really liked it and spent his money on it!

Here is my favorite one. The kid is actually smiling... That is definitely a rare event! I told him he had to, since I considered it the million dollar mouth after the braces event!

Kyle-my photos--in approximately 2006

I would like to introduce you to the most devoted baseball player since Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron! He's not that successful, but he sure loves that ballgame! It breaks my heart with he loses because it breaks his heart. I took these photos at the waterfall at Campus School one Saturday when we were in the building for some reason.

Signing up for Spring Baseball $50
Purchasing the Uniform & Glove $70
Attending all of the practices--Gas & lots of commitment
WINNING THIS T-SHIRT...PRICELESS!!!

Here are the photos of the two boys who couldn't be there after I confirmed the date with our other coach--I won't mention his name, but his initials is Shane Hall. :) Good job also to Caleb & Tyler!

Spring 2009 Cubs 11-12 year old Party--TOURNAMENT CHAMPS!!

Here is Mark getting a Thank You card and also a gift card that the awesome parents of the team gave him for his coaching work.

Also, here is Jacob's trophy which represents the home run he hit in the championship game. Also, Seth hit a home run which he smiled about for the rest of the day. For a very young team... the coaches & parents couldn't be more proud!

photos from the end of year party for our Cub's!!! GO CUBS GO--GOTTA LOVE THEM!!

11-12 Year Old Cubs Misc 2009 Pictures

Seth & Caleb;

Tyler, Rob Caleb, Alex, Greyson & Mark;

Team Pictures: Fearless Leaders-Candi, Mark & Shane,

Back Row: Jacob, Seth, Mark, Rob- Front Row-Alex, Logan, Greyson, Tyler & Caleb

Crazy boys--Tyler, Greyson, Seth, Caleb, Rob, Alex & Mark;

Greyson--with a big smile--think they dropped them before this photo!

7/19/09 Showtime

A few more pictures of one of my favorite teams!

Ethan-what a catcher, Jalen and Avery-cool cousins!, Cooper, Luke, Kyle & Sabin--looking a little tired from the heat of the weekend!!!

More 07/18/09 pix from the State Tournament

Lee (with those ocean blue eyes)--after he just hit a home run!; Kyle-leaving 2nd base; Cooper & Luke in the dug out; Blake-trying to use the bat weight as a listening device--I wish I could have got his embarrassed smile when he saw me taking the picture; Ethan with his cousin who helped us in the dugout! WHAT TIME IS IT??? SHOWTIME!!!