feeling nostalgic

I reallly should save posting these pictures for next week, when Matthew turns 6 years old. But I'm feeling nostalgic tonight and realizing that I can't stress to myself or anybody else...

TAKE. PICTURES. LOTS. OF. THEM.

Because before you know it.... this baby becomes a six year old, crazy, sweet, reading books on his own, bus riding first grade boy.

I realize when I look through these too that I don't have some of these things anymore. Like this fridge. We sold that before we moved to Spur a few streets over. Don't laugh at the elastic thingies around Matthew's legs. He was a heavy duty crawler and had red knees for the longest time because of that tile. I bought these things to pad his knees but they never stayed there. They always rolled down onto the bottom of his legs, and eventually onto his feet. Where he'd pull them off and put them right into his mouth. Ew. I wish I had that $4 back.

He still shops in the fridge like that. Typical boy. Some things never change, they just get taller.

I don't have that TV anymore either. This is also back when Megan was fascinated by her brother and didn't call him an idiot. (Which she knows is not appropriate!! But still throws it at him occasionally in a fit with steam coming from her ears.)

They both look sooooo little. So my message tonight... and to remind myself. The photos that you think are nothing - the everyday stuff - end up being the best ones after all. They are my favorite to go back to a time that I couldn't wait to get out of because of lack of sleep, but kind of wish didn't seem so far away from where we're at right now too. It all goes by so fast.

Fall Ya'll.

Michelle is having a bit of a benefit on her blog today. Go check it out.

Not many words tonight.... the long weekend is over and the kids need to be in bed! Then some snackage to make up for the calories I just burned with my drill sergeant daughter.

One more.

One more for the day, since it's still her birthday. I spent most of the day thinking about the changes in the past ten years since Megan was born. She is amazing, and such a joy in my life. I love her beyond words.

She woke up early this morning and opened some of her presents. One model horse and some new clothes and jewelry. Then we went to Cincinnati for some errands and shopping, and then finally to a tack store where she was going to buy another horse she's been wanting since last Christmas. We had looked at this tack store last week since we heard it sold Breyer horses, and she about died when she saw THE horse she had been wanting. They put it on hold so she could go and buy it today.

We made a huge dinner and she invited a friend over to join us. After dinner and her friend going home, she asked me about taking a walk with her. This girl is kicking my butt. Since she started Girls On The Run, she reminds me that she made a commitment to healthy living and getting exercise everyday so my lazy rear end could make the commitment to go with her every now and then. She's mean. She's a drill sergeant. You wouldn't think it by looking at her, but she makes me RUN. She knows I'm old and falling apart, so she's easy on me. She says I need to walk with a purpose and then she'll pick 'landmarks' in which we'll run. So she'll see stop sign coming up and say, "OK mom. When we reach the stop sign we are going to slow jog until the next streetlight." She's killing me.

I keep reminding her to be easy on me. I mean, it would be hard for her to carry me piggyback back to the house if I fall or just wear out. She's still smaller than me.

We were laughing so hard tonight because there was this little tiny woman who kept jogging past us. I don't know how she did it, but then she would end up lapping us!! She'd pass us, then come out of some corner street and run past us again. Each time we would start laughing so hard we'd both end up gasping for air! Stupid little jogger lady making me look bad. We'd hear her feet coming out from the dark and just start laughing.

So yeah... apparently *I* have made the commitment also. If you don't see a new blog post in a week, you know she's killed me with healthy living.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN!

Happy birthday to Megan! 10 years old today. Double digits. One fullllll decade. Holy cow.

OH!OH!OH! I am so excited about this! I LOVES me some Jessica Sprague, so it was like Christmas to me to see this announcement on her blog! And you can't beat the price. ;)

I am definitley going to be doing this. The Week In The Life project was fun to do, twice now. I know it will be something that I'll do again throughout the years. I love to write about stories, everyday mundane stuff, thoughts and the biggies that are going on in our lives. The best is, my kids like to read them too.

Life feels like it's amping up right now too with Mike's new job and the holidays coming, so it seems like a good time to be writing all of this down.

My kids are off for a four day weekend! It's nice to have them home. Who knows what we'll end up doing this weekend! We also have a birthday for somebody around here. I forget who. ;)

Oh yeah... It's MEGAN. (She won't let me forget. haha!) She has been beyond excited since the beginning of October. She thinks it was really nice for the school district to give her a long weekend for her birthday!

Boo.

No amount of cruddy economic climate can squelch the Halloween spirit.

We were BOOed the other night! This is one of my favorite Halloween traditions, and usually one I seem to start in a neighborhood on October 1st, but I slacked this year. Good thing some other holiday over achiever lives here.

I got a great bowl full of candy, decorations and a few toys. The kids LOVED seeing what we got.

So, it is my turn tonight. Technically the rules are you are supposed to do two houses, but I wanted to stretch it one more so each of my kids could ring somebody's doorbell. They each got to pick out a friend's house that they are going to ding dong ditch and leave behind our BOO baskets. My photography skills are lacking today, there are three baskets in that photo.

It's really not as extravagant at it looks, most of this stuff is from last year's Halloween clearance at Target. Like the ceramic pumpkin I know I probably paid $2 for, dish scrubbers and things I know I got for .25 each, gel window clings, pencils, notepads etc. It's my favorite way of being able to really load up a halloween basket. (No worries, the Pillsbury Halloween cake mix and frosting is from this year!)

I felt frustrated in the Halloween aisle not being able to do a million more. I swear, next year I am going to do at least 25 houses. That's my plan. I love Halloween, and I know how much fun my kids and I have both receiving and especially the fun of leaving them at a door and hiding.

Now I'm just waiting for the sun to go down. Bwahahahahaaaaa.

A week in the life...

Like a million other scrapper people who I've been reading their blogs, I'm doing the challenge from Ali's site for A Week In The Life.

I did this project a few years ago at CKU, and it was so fun. More than the fun of just scrapping is going back and looking through that album now. What I thought was so boring and mundane back then is totally different compared to now. You don't realize how much your life changes sometimes, when you feel you keep waking up and doing the same thing everyday. My kids are older, no more sippy cups, no more pull ups, new grades, new job, new state.....

I really don't have anything else to blog about right now so I thought I'd post a few of the photos I've taken over the last week. It should be weird for some who remember these things in my old house to see them in a new home. Michelle... here is your hutch. In a happy corner, with a wreath that used to be on my wall near the kitchen. Look familiar?
Piper does this EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Without fail. She hears the bus come down the street carrying the high school kids. It's the same bus that goes back to pick up my kids and bring them home. I'm not kidding that she recognizes this ONE bus, because others can come and go and she doesn't care. But for about 45 minutes every day, after she hears this bus go down the street the first time, she'll sit there and stare out the window until the kids come home.

Who's a good girl?
Continued below... if you can contain your excitement....

Mike's trip just beginning, and a hopefully a new chapter in our story.... Flightaware.com. Pencils ready for homework:
The view out my window where my computer desk sits.
Mike back home, packed and ready to go on another trip. This time for work and in the US.

Birthday day.

I really have to take some photos of the paper pages I've done lately. I promise I will. I've been a busy scrapper lately. Paper and digital.

So today is my birthday. It didn't even dawn on me at first when I woke up, took the dogs out into the backyard, freezed my butt off while they sniffed around, and came back in. Then Matthew who had been sleeping with me, woke up when the alarm wasn't turned off. He ran up and gave me a HUGE hug and kiss and said, "Happy birthday mommy!" I love kids' enthusiasm for birthdays. - I'm sure I would have remembered, but it felt sooo early.

I got some great notes from my kids. I'll have to post them, they seriously are great. Then got them all off to school.

I took a birthday nap, then went to Cincinnati to get gas and to go to IKEA for a few things I needed. By the time I got back to Kentucky, it was time to get Mike from the airport. Then soon after that the kids came home from school and then we went out for dinner. I couldn't get mexican food out of my mind, so we ended up at a place here. With ground beef tacos. Sigh..... It was good, but man do I miss Rositas. I'm seriously considering finding out if a to go order from Rositas could do a non rev flight from Phoenix to Cincinnati. Don't take your awesome mexican food for granted you AZ girls!

All in all, it was a great birthday, and I have some tv to watch tonight and plan on spending some time with some new scrap supplies. Mike is on England time still, so he's keeping me company by sleeping on the couch for awhile.

Love you all!

wednesday - Megan's project.

This is Megan's big project that we've been working on. She had to pick an indian tribe to do a report on, then build a model of their home. This is our funky version of a hogan. Complete with doughnut looking roof, and playmobile animals. Oh, and the indian is actually a cave person from Trevor's dinosaur set which I know she didn't ask if she could use. I'll have to point her to this post the next time she flips out that Trevor even GLANCED in the direction of her room, let alone took something from it without asking. ;)

It was fun to make though. Mike helped her with the foundation of the house and built the roof. Which Megan and I put plaster on and then painted to look like mud. Even though it reminds me of a doughnut and I want to eat it.

The dirt and the grass is from Hobby Lobby. I used to be a model railroader in a past life. I'm convinced of that, because I am fascinated with all of the miniature landscape stuff. I could have easily gone overboard and this indian family would have had the most plush landscaping ever. Perfect lawn and topiaries at the front door.

Since we were outside kind of early before the bus came I hoped to get a quick picture of Megan while we still have a week or so of her being 9. But then Trevor sat down really quick. Obviously Megan being the big sister waving her hands of, "What are you doing? You are in the middle of MY session!!!" Haha. Trevor looks like Jim Carrey for some reason. Honestly, he's a pretty handsome kid.

I got one after all, but then when I loaded these photos on the computer I noticed that big ol' bug on the door. I guarantee neither child would have sat there a few feet in front of it, smiling, if they knew it was there!

And one more of Matthew. Cuz he's cute.

Library punk.

Here's Matthew waiting in line to check out his books from the library. He won't even let me help him scan them anymore. He likes that job. So I sit on the sidelines and take pictures when he's not looking! I just think this photo is funny. I love the backwards hat. He said he turned it around because he kept bonking the front of it on the shelves when he was looking for books.

Checked out: Curious George and Thomas books, and one train dvd.

He looks tall don't you think? You know, I know why God sent me one dark haired boy and one blond boy. Because even though they are 2 years apart, Matthew is one inch shorter than Trevor. AND they weigh the same even though they both eat like crazy. If it wasn't for the different colored hair I wouldn't know who was who.

Monday

Monday morning already. That weekend flew by.

We dropped off Mike at the airport yesterday afternoon, and I woke up to an email from him this morning that he arrived in London. It's strange to know he's on the other side of the world right now. I was thinking about how strange it is, that this time last week we had NO CLUE what was in store for this week. I never would have thought things would be shaping up this way if you would have told me last week. Life is crazy. Just be open to all possibilities.

Because I know my old peeps are in Prescott visiting Lisa and scrapping, and Mike is busy packing for a trip to London tomorrow... I'm doing my own thing and doing some scrapping myself.

It's one of those nights where Mike is home, but not home. He's doing some extra studying for an interview next week so while his body is here.... I don't have somebody to talk to. Which makes it easy for me to spend some time trying to organize a huge mess I have had sitting on the floor near the couch since moving in.

It's mostly homeless scrap stuff, stuff for my blog album, recipes that don't have a book to go in, and a lot of pages of journaling that I have thought up, written and scrawled on various notebook papers and sticky notes.

I've had a dry spell in journaling lately. I even worried that I finally ran out of things to say! Imagine! ME!? I'm always wordy! - Sometimes my wanting to do something with a layout frustrates me when I can't think of what I want to say. So I've been banging my head on my desk for a couple of days. Until I started organizing! I found pages of stuff I'd written.

Not only did I get to finish up this layout that has been on my computer for a week, but also I have a clean spot on my floor now.

That is a cup of Kentucky blue grass. But it is so fuzzy and cute I had to take a picture of it.

For anybody who has to watch Spongebob with their kids, you know that one episode where he wakes up and is singing, "It's the best day eveeeer..." Matthew and I keep singing that today.

Apparently school was, in his words, AWESOME today! Not only was it popcorn Friday where they get a bag of popcorn for .50, and the principal had to do the chicken dance on the roof of the school with the news there because of the amount of books read during a week, but Matthew also had a field trip to a farm next to the school today.

They got to ride a tractor pulled trailer from the school down a road to the farm where they got to run in pumpkin patches and corn mazes. They also got to see horses, cows, chickens and pigs. It sounds like the perfect day at the farm. This is the ending of the chapter for first grade learning about seeds and plants, and the effect that they have on everyday life from animals to humans. If you want to know anything about this, trust me since I have been hearing it all week... Matthew has a wealth of information in that five year old head. ;)

a little paper, a little digi

Ah swoon, I know I'm going to scare poor Karla by the amount of times I've mentioned her lately. Do I sound stalkerish? But she had this amazing layout on her blog the other day and I had to make my own version of it. Who doesn't looooove fall?!?

Then the other night while watching a little TV, these cards were born. The idea for the big card came from a Stampin' Up catalog, and the other two cards are from the remaining paper. That awesome blue patterned paper and the die cut flowers are from Stampin Up. I love their paper. Infact, I love just about everything from that catalog. Go order something from Lisa, and check out the cute stuff she just made on her blog. If she wasn't my friend, I'd hate her. ;) Infact, that spider on the big glass jar has my name on it. I think I need that.



I'm sure there will be more scrapping, especially paper... now that SURVIVOR starts tonight!! Woop woop!!! I can't wait. Especially with the location..... Africa. There may be more news on that little hint in a week. Stay tuned.

But scrapping and Survivor go together. And eating snack food while watching other people hunt for crabs and drink out of coconuts.

Fall-oween, Girls On The Run and Kentucky Kids' Day! Whew!

How did it get to be Wednesday already?!? We've been on the go since the weekend. It's time to stop and breathe! But it's a good busy!

I'll start with yesterday (Tuesday) which was Kentucky Kid's Day around the state. A few weeks ago, parents were asked to write a letter to each of their children about why we love them, think they are special and why we are proud of them. They were handed in, and saved to be delivered yesterday.

The school cafeteria was decorated in the school colors with streamers and balloons, and at least in our area the kids were treated to cheers from the Cincinnati Bengals cheerleaders and mascot. (Ohio must have another kid's day, lol!) But the kids thought that was cool, and the Reds and the Bengals are pretty big on this side of the bridge anyway.

Plus there were class parties and everybody at school got a rubber bracelet. It was worth all the work. The kids had a great day. Especially since non of them had homework!

Monday was a busy day, followed after school by Megan's cool club that she is in right now. It's a few month program put on by Cincinnati's Girls on the Run. Every Monday and Wednesday after school the girls talk about issues like gossiping, growing up, responsibilities, drugs and alchohol, nutrition, staying healthy and body image. It has been an incredible program with a lot of good talks and communication.

New Balance is one of the sponsors and had each girl fitted with a pair of running shoes, which they keep at the end of the program. After they have their little classroom time, they all go out and run on the track. It leads up to a 5K run in Cincinnati at the end of November. This program has been a HUGE boost to Megan's self esteem and has brought her pretty close with some of the girls in it.

Sunday we went to a place just across the river in Ohio called Coney Island. It's an amusement park that has been there for decades. The family who started it are the ones who built and started King's Island in Ohio.

This place left Mike and I totally nostalgic for Legend City in Phoenix. If you grew up in Phoenix, you remember Legend City over by the Phoenix Zoo. It was the home of the original Compton Terrace, and was just a big place to go to. You used to be able to see Wallace and Ladmo there too. But this place in Ohio feels JUST like Legend City.

They have the coolest thing called Fall-oween on the same weekend as the huge Octoberfest stuff going on in Cincinnati. Apparently Cincinnati hosts one of the biggest Octoberfests, and they take it pretty seriously. So it worked out perfect for us because Coney Island wasn't busy at all. For $6 admission to the park, you got to ride unlimited rides, and they had trick or treat stops along the walkways for the kids to stop at. They all had big sponsors so the kids got bottles of Sunny Delight at one stop, another stop had Dole juice bottles, bags of cookies, etc.

It was neat to see pumpkins and corn stalks decorating every corner. And pretty mums, along with the usual scary display. Needless to say, the kids had a total blast on Sunday, and my feet were killing me by the end of the day. The best part, this entire day cost us under $35 for us all to spend a day out together.

checking in

This is nothing spectacular compared to what some people can do with digital stuff, but I just got some new papers and brushes from Karla and her new gig at After 5 Designs. Remember, she's my U2 of scrapbooking, and I couldn't wait to mess around with some of her new stuff.

The only problem I've run into so far is that sometime during the creative process of paper scrapping I have an idea of what I want to do for journaling. This was put together so quickly that I haven't thought of anything yet. But I'll go back and add something in a little while. It's looking a little blank up there on the top. Othewise, I'm really happy with how this came out.

It's a lazy weekend here at our house. All three boys are playing a Monkey Ball tournament, and Megan and I keep sharing the computer. She's doing webkinz stuff, and when it's not my turn on here I go clean something. I kind of like days like this. No plans. Tomorrow Mike is going to take the boys to Octoberfest. It is a huge thing near our house. The kids pass it on the bus everyday on their way to and from school and keep asking (no, begging!) to go. Megan was invited to go with a friend last night, so we'll have some girl time while the boys go and ride their hearts out tomorrow.

Oh my gosh, and I probably won't be blogging much next week. Do you realize what time it is??? New Fall programming! Yesss. Trevor and I are really looking forward to the new season of Survivor and the Amazing Race. We've watched those together for years. It's officially our time together when those shows are on. PLUS new CSI (even though I'm bummed about William Petersen leaving!) The Office and a bunch of new shows I can't wait to see. I've already had two weeks of Real World/Road Rules Challenge... I still love those.

Have a good weekend!

No creative title for today.

I had an email wanting to see some of my blog album I'm always talking about working on. Hmm, did you think I really wasn't scrapping? haha. But here is some of it. This is what started the whole digi scrapping monster.

I wanted these overlays and date things to make my life and working on this album much easier. And it HAS made it so much easier and more fun for me. I'm kind of simplifying all the way around right now. I still do 12x12, but I like feeling like I can accomplish something in a short sitting. Sometimes with paper, sometimes just doing something directly on the photo through photoshop, having it printed with all my other photos and then slipping it in a sleeve. I think I'll always have one of these albums going... it also has pictures and stories I otherwise wouldn't have scrapped.

I have been running like a tornado cleaning my house today. It must be the breakfast combination of Coke and Captain Crunch. (I don't feed my kids like that... don't worry! Someday they'll be old enough to make their own crappy breakfast decisions!) So after I get all of my work done that needs to be done, I plan on reorganizing scrap stuff. Which always leads to some actual pages. You know how that goes. So hopefully I'll post more soon!

Ciao baby. Oh, btw scroll down. There's more.

a few more

I, Kerry *insert last name here but keeping this safe for the www.* do solemnly swear that I am not going all whackadoo crazy with the digital scrapping.

I promise to still love paper in all of it's paperness, lumpy stuff and stamping imperfections.

I'm just sharpening my skills and becoming friends with my computer and hopefully doing some fun and easy steps towards my becoming totally hybrid.

Lowers hand.

It has taken me a week to figure out this dang layered template thing. I'm sure Lisa wanted to kill me, which makes me happy that I don't live close enough for her to actually come and hurt me. Then I kept hoping for some quiet days while Mike was home so he could help me figure out whatever step wasn't clicking in my head. BUT given the two days off from school that the kids had.... that wasn't an easy task.

So here it is. One of my first attempts at a super easy template page. I don't have any journaling, so the ali font really doesn't say anything sweet about my daughter. This is so addicting. It's like when you find a new computer game like bubble burst or something that you just cannot walk away from.

I'm going to Costco tomorrow (hopefully they are open again!) to pick up some hard photographs. Yeah... for some paper scrappin!

And I just got the email that school is back in session tomorrow. Sweeeeet.

From a state of disrepair to a state of emergency!

Well, another night and another email from the school that the kids are off again tomorrow. This is a dry run for us for what it will be like this winter when there will be school cancellations for snow days. There is no missing it. If you don't get the email, there is a constant crawl across the TV. The kids don't know yet.... they'll be surprised when they wake up tomorrow morning.

But all kidding aside, we had some nasty weather the other day. I was emailing Lisa and telling her how windy it was, and had no idea what was going on near my area and in Cincinnati. We had hurricane winds with gusts up to 75 mph. Our neighborhood had some small damage, some trees and some roof damage...

but after venturing out to the grocery store earlier (to find that it is still closed) there is NOTHING open. Stores are closed, traffic lights are out and there is a constant sound of pounding from fixing roofs to chainsaws cutting down trees. There have been some deaths due to this storm from my area up into Ohio.

Some things I hadn't even thought of, like the fact that the water treatment plants are without power so some people are out of water. The news was showing places (mainly big gyms) where people could go to get a hot shower. Even Cincinnati Bell stores with power are letting people come in to charge cell phones for free. It's crazy. But still reminds me of how lucky I am right now.

I saw on the news that Palin was supposed to be in Cincinnati tomorrow but cancelled due to this state of emergency. It's odd how some areas can be devastated yet here I am comfy with power and having had gone to the grocery store right before the storm hit. I had no clue. But it has been a learning experience about what to keep on hand for this winter when I've been told to expect some days where you are snowed in and you aren't allowed to go out on the roads.

So wish me luck tomorrow as the kids have a four day weekend and another day of sleeping in!

Yowza!

School Closed 9-15-08Due to the storms that passed through the area today and this evening, the Boone County Schools will be closed on 9-15-08. Our thoughts are with all of you as you begin cleanup. Stay safe and we will see your kids on Tuesday.

**********

This is the email I got tonight. Needless to say, the two kids that are still awake are far from it now. They are beyond excited.

Wow, we had some wicked storms today. I haven't watched the news yet, but the little bit I have read on the computer said that in one area close to my house (In Independence Kentucky) that 70% of the houses in the neighborhood have damage, the entire Cincinnati metro area up to 820,000 people without power (yeah... I double checked that number... that's right!) and the top of the Delta hangar at the airport was damaged. That is one big building. That would have been interesting to see that.

It's also interesting when you have no idea how bad things are around you. We were all tucked inside today without any tornado warnings, but busy watching things flying around in the air. There were gusts of wind up to 75 mph. My neighbor had some siding in his yard, lots of houses missing roof tiles and a lot of knocked down baby trees. (Including one in my yard. I was so sad, since this is the second tree to go down during a storm in our yard since moving here.) But.. looking at the big picture, a tree is nothing to worry about. We also lost the caps to our carriage lights outside our door. They are found, but for now they are sitting on the desk next to me.

Believe it or not, I saw what had to have been one of the strangest sights ever. We live on a pretty steep street. The wind was blowing up the hill. A basketball was rolling UP the hill as fast as it would have been if it was rolling down the hill. I couldn't believe it. It was the weirdest sight ever.

Here's to sleeping in a little longer tomorrow... and some good thoughts and prayers for anybody who was affected by the storm.

random

MMmmm. Rain. And the good soaky kind too.

It's actually kind of cold today. I have my wintertime staple sweatshirt on... the gray Gap hoodie. It's so cozy. (Yeah, and I'm feeling bad for sending my boys to school with shorts on... but they woudn't have listened to me anyway! In my defense it was raining when they left, and felt warmer.)

After getting an email from Beth yesterday with a photo of the Halloween section at Target I decided I had to go get some of my cleaning supplies TODAY so I could go see the new stuff. They were in the middle of unpacking stuff and putting it on the shelves so I couldn't get a good look between the stacks of boxes to see it all. Thanks Beth! That made me laugh to get a picture from her phone.

BUT the candy aisle was stocked, and man did it smell goooood. It smells like Halloween. Thank goodness.... I think it's fall. Knock on wood.

sunday... ah day of rest.

Have you ever had a favorite paper that you bought an entire ream of it? Yeah... that 7Gypsies Life paper was it for me. I bought one sheet at Memory Lane eons ago, and hoarded it. Until we went to Prescott a couple of years ago and Lisa's store had some left. I swear I bought the last 20 pieces of it. I can't even bear to throw away a scrap of it... so one got used on this layout! I'll have enough of that paper to last me the rest of my life. Literally.

Last night I finally got a chance to do some real paper scrapping again.. 12x12 baaybee. The travel album and the blog album have been keeping me busy. Plus I did a digital page last night just for fun. I'm still not sold on the whole digital package, but I do love the elements of it on smaller things. I'm SOOOO hybrid now! Haha!

That rolling numbers stamp is also one of my favorites. It's from Stampin' Up. Go buy one from Lisa, because you can buy them online from her now without having to have a party or find a consultant in your area. The stamp rocks. Lisa rocks. And she just sent me the new catalog online with the most adorable new Halloween stuff and Christmas stuff. I want it all. - Hey, I don't even get commission from writing this, but I do love the Stampin Up stuff. Now if I could figure out how to link to Lisa. Or Stampin Up. Ugh. (guess who figured out linking. Duh, that was easier than I thought. Almost embarrassing.)

She's somewhere over there --->

This has to be one of the most random posts. Today is gorgeous and all of my windows are open. Not only is it beginning to feel like fall, but it's looking that way too. All of the stores have real pumpkins now!! You have no idea the amount of happiness I get just from seeing pumpkins. -

and frogs.

Matthew's homework

Matthew's class is doing what has to be one of the COOLEST assignments ever. At least according to this mom who always carries a camera. To get to know their community, they each got a list of a dozen things and they are supposed to take pictures of something to do with it. Like "a place where you get food." then they are supposed to be as creative as possible and think of what to take a picture of like, a refrigerator, a grocery store, a farm, a place you eat out at... etc. (Matthew chose Subway for his!)

But one of the questions was to take a picture of somebody who makes you feel better when you are sick. As much as I would have loved some accolades for the sleepless nights, cleaning of puke buckets and all that, he chose the fire department.

Why? Because when he got sick a few weeks ago and needed to go to the hospital, he remembered that they came and gave him shots and he felt better. Awww..

Here is the woman who administered THE shot. (Who was so nice talking to him during the whole episode because she has a fruit allergy and knew how yucky he felt.) Matthew still loves her. She showed us around the entire, brand new, fire station. We got to see their awesome kitchen and the recliners in front of the TV in the family room, the bedrooms and the most important....

The huge garage that houses all of the firetrucks. Very cool if you are 5 years old... for sure! Matthew was very serious. He really had a good time. There were several trucks and he had to go touch each one. Apparently the new ladder truck is on it's way so he wants to go see it later.
This is the ambulance he rode in. It looks a lot friendlier when you're not sick. The guys in the fire house were so nice. We had a private tour just for showing up, and he got to sit inside and play with the steering wheel in another truck. Then to top it ALL off, one of the guys brought him a bag with a bunch of coloring books in it and the coveted fire truck eraser that hasn't left his hand all day. Plus a fireman hat.

He asked the lady there where the dalmation was. She kind of avoided the topic by saying, "Well we don't have a fire house animal anymore." After some prodding, we found out that they aren't really the best idea. Why? Because on more than one occasion the animals end up out in the truck bay, sleeping under a truck... and well.... don't exactly get out of the way in time when they are all in a hurry and don't notice said animal. :( Awwww.....

Mainly because doors always end up left open from all of the activity around the house, so it isn't like anybody is purposely being irresponsible. But honestly, if my child is going into shock, I can understand the rush.

Maybe they need a fish or a hammie.

random photo, random updates

Is that not the coolest red door ever? It's at a church in Fort Thomas. When the weather gets better and there is an overcast day I'm taking the kids back there to take pictures. I LOVE this door. I even programmed it in my GPS so I can find it again.

Soooo....

This week has been HOT. Which is such a contrast to all of the 'end of summer' celebrations around here. For 40 some years Cincinnati has held the most incredible fireworks show along the river. This year we watched it on tv, but next year we'll be down in the middle of it all for sure.

It is timed with music from a local radio station, and I can't even imagine the budget they have for this. First of all, the radio station's mascot is a frog. So hearing all of these electronic stereo frogs ribbiting from all areas before the show was COOL. But fireworks were shot off from barges on the river, and two of the big bridges were closed, where they had fireworks as well. One set off of the bridge cascaded from the road area down onto the water like a waterfall. It was amazing. Then timed to go off like runway lights, hanging circular things that went back and forth... it was just plain old cool and I can see why it is such a big deal for a lot of people to go to. It's the official so long to summer show.

There are already signs everywhere for corn mazes, pumpkin patches, homegrown produce and decorations out. I'm giddy! Fall is close, and it's my favorite time of year. I'm especially excited to see a fall that lasts more than one week!

Homegrown summer produce is running rampant right now. We have bags of the most gorgeous red tomatos that we have been eating with dinner every night. Plus okra, peppers, and basil. I've learned not to grow my own, but to gladly accept what people are trying to get rid of at the end of summer!

The kids are doing incredible at school, which I'm hoping stays that way given the economic climate right now. I'm hoping they get to stay there and we don't have to resort to plan B and end up moving again.

Megan was telling me today about a boy she likes in her class. It got me to thinking that this girl has had a crush in every grade since kindergarten. Who knew this stuff started so early. (Sorry Maddy.) But I love how open she is to talking to me about this stuff. We definitely are open to good communication, and I know we'll always have that wide open.

The kids pretty much run free after school for a little bit. It is amazing to see how many of them get out and play with each other, riding up and down the street. It's great that there doesn't seem to be 'age discrimination' like I'm used to from our last neighborhood. 6th graders play catch with kindergarteners, and boys and girls race each other on bikes, skateboards or scooters. It's awesome.. and makes for a lot of socializing with the parents who are all out standing in front of houses with their iced tea. It's kind of Norman Rockwell-ish.

Other than that, nothing new going on here. It's hard to believe how much time has gone by and I honestly don't know where the day goes by the time it's all done with. Even now I'm being bugged to make sundaes as promised after making dinner. Then bed time. Yay!

An experiment. See how a nice saying across the top and some swirlies totally relax the mood of this photo? Somehow it doesn't seem to say, "Two brothers about to kill each other on a park bench because I don't want his lips touching me, and now I'm going to push and shove until we are both out of breath and covered in dead grass clippings."

I'm still having fun playing with some of the new stuff I have. Somebody asked me last entry what program I'm using. I just have Photoshop Elements. - and a husband who teaches me over and over how to use it. I downloaded most of my digital elements from 2Peas or Designer Digitals. I prefer designer digitals because I seem to gravitate towards the same two designers, and they also have specials every thursday where you can get some cool brushes for .25 cents. Not having to pay a lot is what helped me to get my feet wet.

Life right now is basically about simplifiying. Both because of space and also financial. I had to find a way to do what I was doing but on the cheap. I love date stuff and numbers and I've already noticed having a good collection of always used brushes has saved me a lot in not needing to buy rub ons for awhile.

I hope everybody had a good holiday weekend! Mike was home (and even on our anniversary!) so we've been keeping busy. Plus this week is going by fast because of having monday off. Of course now there are errands and things to do for school this week. It seems like they are always needing something!