Our new addition to the family

Meet ___________, well we actually don't have a name for him yet. His mothers name is Jazzmine and his dad is Jackson. If you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know. Well sorry this is short but I have to go play.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Whew, I can't believe that it is over. It seems like I just decorated and stressed out about what to get all my loved ones. And it is done, over, and a New year is here. Make note to self that when writing a check it is now 2008. Well it will be June before I will get that right. But anyways it was a wonderful holiday filled with family and friends. Hayley and Maggi had a great time. Take a look at their faces on the photos. I think they were happy with their new toys. Hayley wanted a Ipod touch and Maggi wanted a Wii (well that didn't happen, Santa had a hard time getting his hands on one of those) and a Ipod nano (which was alot easier to get).

My Grandmother turns 90 years old next week so we had a belated Christmas and early Birthday party last weekend. She is such a wonderful lady and trooper. She has had 3 minor heart attached in last month and we weren't sure if she would want to come. Well you can't keep that lady down. She is so full of energy I wish she would share it with me. HAHA. As you can see from the last photo we had a load of family member present for the occasion. That is only about 1/2 of them. Some couldn't make it but at least all of her 7 kids were there.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I must go and get the laundry done because we start back to school tomorrow and that means I have to go back to work. Ugh. The fun is over.

Oh Happy Day

I woke up this morning with a killer headache, stuff nose and lack of energy. UGH!!! I had some really big plans for the day. Get all the groceries for Christmas Eve dinner (which I am hosting for Scott's side of the family) , pick up and organize the house (the real cleaning is going to be done tomorrow), and the laundry oh and pay the bills. Needless to say, I did go to the store and got the groceries and I did the bills. That is it, I have been a bum ever since. I then thought why not get the whole family involved since they are the ones that will benefit from all of this. So Scott is doing the laundry, Maggi is putting bows on the presents, Hayley is cleaning her room and then will clean the bathroom (well that is when she gets home from shopping with friends). I told them if they didn't pitch in and help then I will hold back all the presents until it is done.

I am a happy camper, while doing the bills I was able to payoff all of the credit cards, and Scotts truck. We paid off the house in June. It is such a wonderful feeling. I know it won't last long because we are looking at new cars already. Mine is 8 years old, I still like it and is very reliable but we need something that is such a tank and gas hog. But actually when we started looking we found out that my Expedition is better on gas than some of the newer smaller cars. Oh well I already have my heart set on a new one. What kind I am not sure yet but I am leaning heavy on the Honda CRV's. After Christmas we will get to work and hopefully be driving a new car or truck or suv or crossover.

I hope everyone has a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

I bet you thought I drop off the planet

Nope just been busy busy busy. I should be in a routine by now since school started in Sept. but for the life of me I just can't do it. Now that the Christmas is so near I am crazy busy trying to buy present, get the house ready, along with the every day chores that I just never seem to catch up with. Today was shopping for Xmas and groceries and then it was home to do the laundry. Yesterday was cleaning and getting ready for 22 teenages that were coming over for dinner. No I didn't have to cook because it was a progressive dinner, some of the kids made the dinner and I must add it was FABULOUS. We just had to give them a place to eat. It was a fun time.

Here is the photo that I finally decided on for our Christmas cards. Not my fav but it was the only one that both girls were looking at me and that Hayley approved of. Ugh. For some reason I had a hard time getting them together to even try to take a picture. What the heck, last year they were begging me to get the camera out.



I hope everyone is enjoying this time of year and not getting too stressed. I do get alittle stressed but I try to tell myself that it will all get done and what doesn't is not a big deal. We have a few parties coming up and the girls are getting excited (OK so am I}. I am hosting my dh family Xmas eve and I love doing it. It is very relaxed and I love watching the kids open there presents. It is a magical time. Let the counting begin - 16 days. HAHA.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

THE MOM SONG

I ran across this on another site and just had to share it here. I laughed my butt off because it is so true. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Photo Shoot Cont.

My sister called the other day to ask if I could come over with my camera to take FUN photos of her step kids. The only pictures that they have of the girls were JC Penney type which does not show the girls personalities. So off I went with camera in hand thinking to myself, what the heck am I doing? I am still trying to learn my camera and I am going to take photos of cute little girls to hang on their living room walls. UGH!!! Then I thought, this is my sister not like it was a complete stranger and I am not chargering her so if they turn out like crap, not a big deal.

Actually I was very pleased with alot of them. I know I need more help but heck I am just a beginner and I am proud of some of the photos. Well when you have 2 little girls that love to ham it up in front of the lens, how could I not get at least one good. Here are just a few that I took with a couple of my girls because they seem to want to get in the pictures. Thanks for looking and any advise will be helpful.

Photo Shoot

Happy Labor Day

And let me say that I really didn't do much today. You know with it being Labor Day and all. I woke up this morning and wanted to get alot done but after being up and drinking a pot of coffee I had changed my mind. It is a womans right to change her mind right? So we did a little last minute school shopping and I did finish the laundry. I still need to put that away but it might just wait until tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow it is our first day of school. Part of me is looking forward to it and the other part is dreading it. The first week I come home totally drained. Physically and mentally. Phew!!! Just thinking about it poops me out. It is time to get back into a routine if you can call our life routine. We have had a awesome summer and it is going to be hard to get up in the morning. But it has to be done and give me a week and everything will be fine.

Here are some pics of my girls that I took a couple of weeks ago when I went out to our local Nature Center with my SIL Kay and friend Alison. I can't wait to do it again.

One of the worst days of my life

I had to take our little kitty Lucy (well she was about 5 years old) to be put to sleep today. I didn't think it would affect me as much as it is. A friend of ours found her in a drainage ditch when she was about 6 weeks old so we took her in. She never really got very big, she was a petite little thing. But anyways she has also had a mental problem lets say. She was not a social cat and we only saw her occasionally. She camped out under my bed most of the time. We still loved her. The last year she has taken it upon herself to use anything in the house to use as her litter box. We have taken her to the vet to make sure that she didn't have a medical problem and she didn't. So we put up with it long enough. Something had to be done. I just need to vent and thought this would be the best place. My girls are not taking it any better than I am. I told my dh that the next time a pet needs to be put to sleep he is taking it. It just hurt so much.

ROCK ON!!!!

Well I have gone to a few concerts in the last couple of days. And I am going to another next week. WOW I feel like a party animal LOL. It all started when my SIL called and had extra tickets to Sugarland. I listen to their music but never thought about going to see them until she called. It was a awesome concert and would see them again. Here is the only photo that is half way decent (not good but you can see Jennifer Nettles, where all my others are blurry) I need to learn how to use my camera or at least remember to put it on auto.



Here is a photo of the warm up band Emerson Drive.



Yesterday I took Maggi to the Corbin Bleu/Drake Bell concert and we rocked out. It was her first concert and she was so cute. I think she sang to all of the songs and had a great time. So did I, LOL. Corbin put on a awesome show. He is a fantastic dancer.

Another Big Sunflower

I forgot to post one of my favorites. Check out the bee, he had a million friends with him. LOL!

BIG YELLOW FLOWERS

I am part of a photography group that want to learn how to use their cameras. So we get together when we can and decided to take a field trip. We got in the car and a little over a hours drive we got to our destination. A field of sunflowers!!! These are a few pictures that I took. We stayed over a hour until the sun started to set and we lost light. It was a beautiful night (other than the bees and bugs) and hitting a deer on the trip home. Poor Alison, I feel bad because now she has to deal with getting her car fixed. Now I can't wait until our next field trip and I am hopeing that some day all I will understand how to take awesome photos.

***Happy 10th Birthday Maggi"

We had a very busy weekend all due to the birthday celebrations.

Saturday we celebrated with a family party. Burgers (because that is what she choose for dinner)and family. What a awesome way to spend your day. We had to do a pinata (we thought it was a donkey when we bought it only to find out the tag said it was a horse, well let me say it was a very scary looking horse)which she broke open on the very first hit. Oh well they loved picking up the goodies.

Then Sunday (her actual birthday) we took her to a baseball game. For months now she told us that all she wanted to do was go to a game. So we picked up her friend and off we went and had a great time. She was so surprized when all of a sudden she her heard name called over the PA system to wish her a "Happy Birthday" and then her name was up on the big sign. It was priceless. Off to finish picking up and get ready for my week. Back to reality.

Just call me airhead

I forgot all about the trip to the zoo last week until I read my SIL's blog. Duh!!!
I thought it would be fun to spend the day at the zoo before picking up Hayley from the airport after her big trip to France.

It was a wonderful day. The girls loved seeing all the animals and the best part of the day were feeding the giraffe and watching the cutest polor bear swim above us as we watched from a glass tube under the water. It was amazing. I can't wait to go again.

WERE BACK!!!!

From a long due vacation. Hayley was in France for 10 days and that was kind of stressful for me with her being so very far away. But she is home now with lots of pictures (see previous post for a few photos) and stories to tell. She had a AWESOME time. Then we wisked her off to the beach for 4 days to recover from jet lag and family bonding time. The weather was beautiful and we had a very relaxing time playing on the beach. Now it is back to reality with tons of laundry (there is sand and bonfire smell in everything) and cleaning the house. I can't wait until we go again. I didn't want to come home, I could get use to flying kites on the beach and lounging in a beach chair with a good book all summer long. Better get my butt moving or I won't get a thing done. TaTa.

Paris with bffl

These are just a few pictures of Hayley's trip to France. Enjoy and I hope tomorrow I will have more of her trip and then our family trip to the lake.

"SWEET 16"

Yeap, Hayley turns "16" today. So if you are driving any where near here, watch out.

I almost forgot it is also Friday the 13th. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY

We just paid off our house today. It is such a great feeling.

Just sharing a photo from the 4th

I just wanted to share a picture of Maggi that I took on the 4th. I love that I was able to capture the circle of sparks from her sparler. I wish that she was more in focus. Well, that will give me something to work on. HAHA.

Oh and I almost forgot. Hayley's passport finally arrived. I am so relieved to have it in my hot little hands.

Happy Anniversary to ME!!!

Today is my or I should say our "21st" Anniversay. And I am such a dork that I forgot all about it until about noon today. Well I figure that after this many years I am forgiven. He only remembers about once every 5 years so we are even. HAHA. This is a photo that I took of him yesterday at the fireworks. It
Here are 2 photos of the 424 that I took of the fire works last night. They are not my best but I was too lazy to go thru all of them to post. So maybe more will show up in a different post. Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th.