mommyofthree

Sweet (how in the world) 16!!!!!!

2012-02-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

I'm not really sure how it happened. 'Cause last I knew it was January 22nd, 1996......and I was holding my beautiful red-headed baby. I was a scared new mommy who was absolutely......completely......head over heels in love with her baby boy!!!!

16 years have somehow passed.....and that baby boy can now PICK ME UP!

If I think about it too long, I get all misty eyed.....but I don't want you to misunderstand. I'm proud of the young man he has become. I'm still head over heels in love with my 6'4"+ baby boy.

There are certain moments in my "timeline" that I will never forget.

I'm pretty sure that this is one of them.

I was the only person awake....and it was Sunday morning.

I made coffee. Decorated the chalkboard. Hung a Birthday banner on the mantle. Unloaded and loaded the dishwasher. You know, ordinay stuff!! But the whole time I'm thinking......holy cow!!!!! How in the world is it humanly possible for time to go so quickly!!!

Then the clock on my oven turned to 8:02. The exact time I held Ryan for the very first time. He had a cone head, he was covered in ICK, he was screaming bloody murder........but my heart skipped a few beats. I felt love on a new level.......a mommy's love!!!

I'm pretty sure that I drive him bonkers!

I may even embarrass him from time to time!

Often....he's angrier than cuss at me........

But I'm his momma...............and I'm so, so, so proud of him!

So.....this is the part of the story where we open a few presents.

Can't have a sweet 16 without presents, right?

Ian was with his church youth group on a weekend trip....so Emma Grace picked out a present from both of them.

It was a x-box 360 game. Honestly, can't remember the name of it for nothin'. Honestly, I couldn't care less. I haven't enjoyed a video game since the Sega Genesis released a game called "Space Harrier". I was the master! I played till my thumbs hurt.

The next present was from Mom and Dad.

Yup......a Hotwheel car!!!

Because Rick and I think that we are funny!

Wait a second!!!!!!!!

Rick and I think we are comedians!!!!

We duct taped his final present shut. In case you didn't get that......We covered the box in duct tape!!!!!!

OK....guess it's not THAT funny!

After he finally dug a steak knife out of the drawer and cut the box open.....he pulled out a little green drawstring bag with the name Lauhoff embossed on the front.

He's puzzled. That's a jewelry store?

Then he pulled out a shiny new engraved key chain with a key attached to it.

He is finally starting to understand.

He's shaking!

He's smiling!

He's nervous his mom and dad are trying to be comedians again.

(And we sort-of were.......See I posted a picture of his car on Facebook, tagged him in it, then made him check his wall.

Whadya' know? It's a picture of a car THAT'S IN OUR DRIVEWAY!!!!!

I included this blurry picture for a reason. I wanted you to believe me when I tell you that Ryan has never moved so quickly in all his life.

And this is what he found...........

His reaction was what I meant earlier when I said I would never forget this day. There isn't enough money in this world to trade that memory for.

I've never seen him so excited!!!!!

My heart was bursting!!!

This is the part where you start to lose me.

Hemi engine.

The guts of the car.

Under the hood.

Ehhhhh!

Then we watched him open his other gifts.

This one was from his girlfriend.

A Kansas dart board (how appropriate)!

....and a MU camo shirt.

He got moola from his grandparents that I'm sure will pay for gas and dates with Lacey.

My camera was acting wonky. I wanted to have both of them in focus. But it would either do this......

or this?

What's a car without a license? Right?

This was taken the morning he officially became a driver. He wanted to drive to school and his car wasn't quite ready, so he asked to take my rig. I didn't mind that he did, but it required that he take me home first (because I didn't want to hang out in Wal-Mart for 6 hours). We pulled up to the house....and it was time for me to get out of the car.....and let him drive.......ALONE...........WITHOUT A LICENSED DRIVER........WITHOUT ME!!!! I was thankful that I had sunglasses on because my eyes welled up and I had a lump the size of a walnut in my throat. I sat there, in the passenger seat, for a little bit. Not saying anything (because I couldn't), yet not reaching for the door handle either. It was time for my red-head....who is growing up....but still has a momma who is head over heels in love with her baby boy, to let him go.

So, I gave him a squeeze, told him I loved him and that I was proud of him, and although my voice was now cracking, I told him to PLEASE BE CAREFUL!

Then I ran in the house....plopped myself in a chair.....curled up in a ball.....and bawled my eyes out!

It's been three weeks since that day......and I'm not crying anymore. Quite the opposite....I'm thankful to not have to sit in my car every night for 20-40 minutes waiting on him to get out of basketball practice. I'm thankful that he can drive himself to physical therapy for his ankle. I'm thankful that he can take himself to his girlfriends basketball games.

It's kinda nice!!!!!!

So happy birthday Rhino the Dino!

I love you more than new car smell!!!!!

And birthday parties!!

And Duct tape!!!!

Cannot Be Held Responsible

2012-01-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

I'm a two cups of coffee into my morning.

One cup: Still not safe to talk to me

Two cups: I can hold a conversation, but cannot be held responsible for my words.

Three cups: My kidneys are now working overtime, but I can finally begin my day.

Four cups: I can conquer the world!!!!!!!!!

So, I'm blogging on two cups. Just warning you!!!!!!

Yesterday I worked my tail off on these signs. All because I was in the mood to get a little crafty (and also because I'm a wanna-be super mom).

This is Ryan's.

Because I was also channeling Betty Crocke.....I made these!!!! Recipe will be at the bottom of this post (in case you want to forfeit your New Year's resolution).

Then I sat my hiney on a bleacher seat. Again.

I thought it was fun taking pictures of the student section with my signs.

How cute are our Hornet fans? Ummmm....VERY CUTE!!!!!

Here are all three of our Coaches.

The guy in grey is Coach Marsh.....his name is Tim.

The guy in the black argyle sweater is Coach Cunningham....his name is Tim.

The guy in the white shirt and red tie is Coach Cool.....his name is Tim.

Nope, not kidding.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling:
10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line an 8" square baking pan with parchment paper or foil allowing a little overhang and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Mix the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs until thoroughly combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 6 minutes. Remove pan to a cooling rack. Leave your oven on while you prepare the dough.
3. While the crust is cooling, prepare the chocolate chip cookie dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Mix in the flour on low speed, and mix until just incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chips. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the egg and vanilla on low speed just until incorporated. Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared crust. Using your hand to form clumps, distribute the cookie dough onto the top of the cheesecake batter in teaspoon-sized clumps. Be sure to use all of the dough.
5. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top feels dry and firm (the cookie dough) and the entire pan looks set if given a gentle shake. Move bars to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Chill in refrigerator overnight or for at least a couple hours.
6. Lift the bars out by the overhang and cut into squares for serving.

I found the recipe on this blog........Brandy's Baking

New Year = New Lists

2012-01-09T06:34:00.000-08:00

I'm going to table my Christmas (part 2) post until later this week.

#1. There are TONS of pictures and I'm dreading the comentary.

#2. People......I am soooooo done with Christmas. The thought of looking at the pictures nearly brings tears to my eyes.

So, I will skip forward temporarily.

It's a New Year!!!! 2012!!! Holy smokes they sure come around quicker and quicker nowadays. We had a little bit of family and a little bit of friends over to celebrate (and it was nice).

Normally I make the New Year's Resolution to bless someone every day. I thought this year that I would add to that some. 2011 was a little difficult for me. I wasn't sad in the least to see a different number on the ole' calendar. I'm making a vow to make 2012 happier! (More on that in a bit).

So, here is my list.......

#1. Drink more water and less Diet Coke.

It's really not fair. Why can't Diet Coke be good for me? Why does water have to taste so blah? Anywhoo, so far, I'm doing a better job.

In summary....

and less.....

#2. Plan meals ahead so there is less eating out.

We are gone nearly every single night. Ball games, play practices, and whatever the heck is happening in our home, takes us away from our family table. I believe that if I just planned better, we could avoid some of the impulse super sized Big Mac meals.

#3. Exercise more and be aware of what I eat.

I go through spurts. I have to say that last year, I did much better in the "healthy eating" catagory. I want to continue that though and possibly improve on it. I downloaded four apps on my phone called, "Ab Workout, Butt Workout, Leg Workout, and Arm Workout". In case you're wondering, the apps target my ab's, my butt, my legs and my arms. I did them all yesterday and my buns especially are a little achy today. Achy is probably a good thing. Achy means......DO IT AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN!!!

#4. Go to church regularly.

I'm starting a bible study on James on January 19th. Pretty pumped up about it.

#5. Ali Edward's "One Little Word" started on 1-1-12. I have picked a word each year for the last three years. I try to be mindful of it. This year, I am choosing HAPPY.

Christmas 2011 (Part 1)

2011-12-28T06:14:00.001-08:00

The holidays are over......

We ingested large amounts of sugar, saturated fats and caffeine. My jeans are on the snug side.

So, like the majority of Americans, I am on a strict diet!!!!!

I will share more about my New Years Resolution in tomorrow's post. Before that happens, I need to catch you up on our Christmas festivities. At least the ones that I captured, I kindof failed at photo taking during the holidays.

Buddy and Bridgette (our elves) brought each of the kids a gingerbread house. We have assembled these for four or five years straight. I made up my mind that this year.......we would forego the tradition. Mainly because it's a humongous mess, but also because after they are done, they sit around till I throw them away. Just not a fan of things sitting around on the counter. It stresses me out. But since the elves brought them, I felt like we had to do it, ya know?

This year, Ryan wasn't too thrilled about playing with frosting and peppermint candies. He knows that it was important to his mother however. So he put on a pretend smile and began opening his gingerbread box. Call it luck of the draw or........ he threw the box against the wall when I wasn't looking, when he pulled the gingerbread out, it was crumpled to pieces. Guess that took care of that problem.

Ian and Gracie's were perfectly intact though, so I made them continue.

Rick sorta feels the same as Ryan about the whole edible house thing, so he watched his favorite holiday movie instead.

Then another of our traditions of reading "What God Wants for Christmas". This year we let the kids read instead of Rick. We also made them read the corresponding Bible verses.

Gracie drew a manger scene on the chalkboard. I'm going to be awfully sad to erase it because it might be my favorite drawing she has ever done.

We headed over to Grandma Charlotte's and Grandpa Bob's to have our Christmas with Macy, Titus, Colten, Trey, Nate, Pam, and Heather.

We had our first dusting of snow that day. It might have stayed on the ground for 30 minutes. No snow this holiday! It's a very strange 50 degrees AND I DO NOT LIKE IT! In a perfect world, it would snow the week before Christmas and melt on the 2nd of January. Then not return until the next third week of December. But Missouri doesn't work like that.

It wasn't, however, warm enough for shorts. But my children are freakish and they wear them year round.

We opened gifts and I practiced my depth of field.

Then we loaded everyone up to eat barbecue.

Titus was having a bad hair day.

The holidays sure fly by. It seems like I just decked the halls. I'm not a Grinch guys, but I'm usually glad that they are over. It's just so much mingling, and eating, and short nights, and kids fighting, and cleaning, and cooking. I love it................yet I dread it. Does that make sense?

Part two of Christmas 2011 coming soon.......

Holiday Happenings

2011-12-19T06:36:00.000-08:00

I've been busy painting signs for 30+ freshman-varsity basketball boys.

Ian finished the last science fair project in his lifetime. He got a 63.5 out of 60 points. Not too shabby.

Gracie and Ian worked most of the afternoon Sunday filling their quarter books.

Buddy and Bridgette, our house elves, have been as mischieveous as ever. Here they are hiding behind lincoln log/wooden block forts and having a marshmallow fight!

The house looks "Christmas-sy".

Gus and Congo.......lazy as ever!!!!!

Gracie sang in a Christmas concert with her Stingers group. I was impressed! They did an amazing job!

That about catches me up.

Hope to be better about blogging after the first of the year.

I have more monkeys than adults in my house. That makes life a little bananas!!!

Tis the Season........

2011-12-08T06:30:00.001-08:00

Long story.....made short!

Ryan played in the very first Varsity game. It was the first quarter, he made the first team points with a basket. He rebounded..........he blocked.......then he got hurt! He was laying on the court and I jumped into "Momma Mode". I was elbowing Rick to go out there. I was scowling at him because he kept saying, "Give him a minute"! Well a minute felt like 400 minutes to me. Daddy went out on the court (so I wouldn't bruise his ribs with my elbow jabs).

It was a sprain. Nothing that is going to halt his High School sports career. It did, however, require two days of crutches, two different types of ankle braces, physical therapy for a week, and lots of Advil.

Poor E-man is having his own case of bad luck. As of today, they have not won a single game. They play tonight and I hope God will look down on them with favor. I like this picture of Ian. He makes the funniest facial expressions while he's playing. Glad I got this one captured!!!

Just to prove that he is a handsome young man, I also included this one. He has had a haircut since this picture and he now looks like a young Matt Damon (wink ;) )

I've also painted a wall mural on paper for Ryan's 4th hour class. The high school has a hallway contest every Christmas. The winner gets a pizza party.

The theme for our hall was, "The Grinch That Stole Christmas". This Grinch costume was actually one that Rick wore during the holiday parade one year. Ryan's 4th hour class is Health and it is in the Science room. Therefore, we placed the costume on Bones, the class skeleton. Genious, I think!!!!

What is Who-ville without a Who tree?

And this is a very small portion of the mural.

Now I am drowning in wooden basketballs that need to be completed.

Basketball games every single night.

Gracie's Oompa Loompa practice and

a 5th grade Christmas concert that her Stingers group is singing in.

I haven't found a mother of three who isn't busy, but it's sometimes overwhelming.

On the go, go, go!

2011-12-02T12:00:00.001-08:00

Bad blogger......bad, bad, bad!!!!!

I've let myself get so far behind, that I'm hitting a creative wall. I've stopped taking pictures, I've stopped looking at other blogs. Hence, I've been a little inactive here lately. So, this post is my meager attempt to catch up.

I consider this little blog a record of our family events. It is nice that friends and family can view it, but honestly, I would probably still do this even if they couldn't. My goal isn't to have thousands of followers. It's to be able to remember! Friends, something happened at 30 years of age to my brain. It no longer recalls things as easily. I do remember having three children and a husband. Maybe a dog or two.

Possibly a cat..........or three cats. Who knows?

In the past couple weeks I have sat through countless basketball games.

I've ordered a few Christmas gifts (though not nearly enough).

I've decorated the house for the holidays.

I've cleaned my scrapbook room (which was a huge, huge feat!).

Remember Buddy? Our little elf who visits the house the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas eve. As we hoped, he was waiting for us when we returned home from black Friday shopping. With a nice note, no less.

This year, Buddy brought a helper. Her name is Bridgette. We are noticing that having Bridgette help him has gotten him into more messes.

A toilet paper mess with a toilet paper roll crown.

And a paper trail from the bathroom to his location on the dining room buffet.

Ian's sock drawer

A bowl of milk chocolate chips in the kitchen.

And milk chocolate faces!

A horseback ride through the mess in Gracie's room!

A science experiment in the hall bathroom with food coloring.

Yes, toilet water CAN be turned a nice shade of Christmas green.

Then a game of cards with a few friends.

I will try to keep you up to speed on his where-abouts from time to time. He has a Facebook page if you care to send a request. It's Buddy the Elf, in case you're wondering.

Well, we are off to another basketball game in St. Joe, MO. Ryan had an injury in his very first Varsity game. So this is his big RETURN! Hopefully (praying hard), he doesn't get hurt again. This momma cannot take it when her babies are hurting!

Oompa Loompa

2011-11-14T08:29:00.001-08:00

My sweet little angel got a part in the upcoming city production of

"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"!

She's going to be an Oompa Loompa

I've always wanted to have an Oompa Loompa in the family.

There will be countless practices and rehearsals before the February

I'm thinking our lil' Smith has finally found her nitch.

Ian kicked off our basketball season. They played against the Brookfield Bulldogs, Rick's alma mater. This means that we sat with the enemy (namely cousins and a Aunt and Uncle) who are still residing there.

I'm a little sad that we weren't able to pull out a win but Ian played well, and for that, I'm pleased.

He scored 8 points and played nearly the entire game. GOOOOOO Ian!

I have lots more to catch you up on, but not a lot of time. Hopefully I can get to that this week.

Puss in Boots (Gracie Style)

2011-11-14T07:31:00.001-08:00

My dear sweet barn kittens have been reduced to dress-up dolls for my daughter and her friends.

I intended for them to catch unwanted barn critters.

Their intentions were somewhat different.

They have had a small taste of heating and air conditioning and decided that was the life for them.

I'm positive that this WAS NOT what they had in mind!

It seems like a perfect math equation........

kitty cats + American Girl doll clothes + two 10 year old girls = DRESS UP!!!!!

Our ever loyal felines took one for the team and allowed this humiliation upon themselves.

Landing on all fours seemed to be a little difficult with chaps and a tube top.

Please pardon the tail. It's a little tricky managing to keep your dignity in this position.

Yup, the tail is still there people!!!!

Does the song, "These Boots Were Made For Walking", come to mind?

Would you believe that these kitties purred the entire time this was happening?

It takes the story, "Puss in Boots" to a whole new level, doesn't it?

I am thankful that Mouser #1 and Mouser #2 are finally serving a purpose around Rocky Ridge Farm. It isn't really what I had in mind, but it'll do I suppose. From now on, I will never be able to purchase doll clothing without thinking of our kitties.

Antlers and Buzzers

2011-11-14T06:10:00.001-08:00

It's hunting season!!!!

That means..... I have camo EVERYWHERE!

I get woke up before the sun so my hunters can head to the woods.

I am told countless stories of squirrels, turkey and deer!

This is Gracie's very first deer.

I am officially the only non-hunter in the family now.

This is Ryan's deer. I wasn't there to get pictures, so we will have to settle for this cell phone pic.

Basketball season has also started and I'm thankful that we have now moved to an indoor bleacher. The football games and fall baseball bleachers were starting to get a little cold for my taste.

I am waist high in Christmas decorations.

My house is trashed!

My toe has a boo-boo from my trashed house!

I've been listening to Christmas music and I'm not ashamed!

I'm really not!

REALLY!

Pop Star Wanna Be

2011-11-04T06:16:00.000-07:00

I'm a Bakerella fan through and through. I stalk her blog, order her cookbooks, and now I.....

make cake pops!!!!

She is the queen momma of cake on a stick.....and for that......I'll be forever in her debt!

These are just a few of her many creations.

I wonder what it feels like to be so talented? I wonder if she looks in the mirror and says, "yup, you're da bomb of sugar."?

She also makes other things like, brownies, cheesecakes, muffins, cookies, and these super photographic gummies.

So how does this apply to the "mommyofthree"?

Well......

I wanted to do something special for the Hornet football team. They made it to the play-offs and we were having a small celebration for them. (which means, lots of food in teenager talk!) In planning the celebration, I blurted out, "I will make cake pops"! Then before I could retract my statement, everyone was cheering for me. They were smiling......and nodding their heads in agreement. They were patting me on the back and clapping their hands!

OK, not really, but I did say it loud enough that everyone heard me. And because I am a wanna-be Martha Stewart, I could not let them down.

It took me nearly a full day to make 60 of them.

I destroyed two of them (then ate them).

So technically, there were 58.

I am not Bakerella!

But I tried.

I'm sure that I'm not going to end up on her "Pop Stars" page with these cake pops.

I'm going to keep trying though.

It is basketball season now, you know?

Ohh.....Snowman cake pops!

and elf cake pops!

and present cake pops!

and.............

It's endless guys!

Halloween Night

2011-11-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a little different this year. The kids are growing up and I couldn't convince my 6'4" and 6'2" boys to go house to house. As a matter of fact, my tall red-head chose to be with his girlfriend at her grandparents instead of me. Ian stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's house to watch the Chiefs vs. Chargers game (and to eat all the yummy food that she made for us.....as always!) Gracie was still willing to go, but she didn't want me to walk with her. My job was to stay in the car and follow her around. Rick had to work in the E.R. on Halloween so I brought one of my friends along. She kept me from hitting any smallish trick or treaters in the residential neighborhoods. She also helped me remind Gracie to say......."Trick or Treat" and then, "Thank you".

Manners first, right?

Her costume was a pre-teen version of a zebra. She picked it out all by herself. She opted out of the blue wig that we bought, yet was all for the furry boots I stumbled upon Halloween morning.

I was in charge of favors for her classroom. I also did Halloween favors last year. Here is the link to them. Last year, it was eyeballs........this year, monsters.

I put monster bouncy balls, wax lips, candy, skeleton candy (that you can assemble), monster glasses, and a monster ring pop. Then I tied it up with a monster plush (photo above) and a handmade tag. I'm not sure why I go to the trouble of making handmade ANYTHING for elementary kids. Half of them were on the classroom floor and the other half were ripped to shreds when the kids opened the bags.

I wanted to tell each child when I passed them out, "DO NOT TEAR UP THE TAGS! I SPENT SIX HOURS MAKING THEM! I REPEAT....DO NOT TEAR UP THE TAGS!" But I didn't, therefore, they tore up the tags. (sigh) Oh well! That's why I take my happy pill every morning.

I took pictures of all Gracie's classmates but I don't want to upload all of them. Mostly because I'm lazy, but also because I'm not sure their mommies and daddies want their pictures on my lil' ole blog. So, I'm only showing you my very favorite costume.

Mr. McKay's classroom had a "mystery visitor". He/she came into the room and passed each child a goody bag. When he/she left, they had to fill out a Q/A about who the guest was. If you want to play the game also, look at the picture of our mystery guest and I will have questions at the bottom of this post for you. If you play, you cannot cheat. That means....you cannot look at the picture once you start answering questions.

Promise?

Pinky promise?

I'm adding a few extra shots of the costume so you won't be able to see the "mystery guest" photo.

Work it GUUURRLL!

WHO IS HE/SHE?

What color is the scarf around "mystery guest" neck?_________________

Is the "mystery guest" wearing a brown suede hat or a yellow straw hat?___________________

Was the "mystery guest wearing gloves?__________________

Did the "mystery guest" use her right or left hand to grab the goody bags?_________________

Did the "mystery guest have a feather in his/her hair?______________________

How many pairs of feet are in the picture?_____________________

What color is the bowl that the goody bags are in?________________________

Were the "mystery guest" overalls pin stripe or solid?________________________

BONUS: The "mystery guest" is one of these four people...who do you think it is?_____________

Silly Randomness

2011-10-25T13:24:00.000-07:00

My very first 10K.

Does it count if we only ran down the hills and walked up them?

If you average our time of 1 hour and 22 minutes for 6.2 miles, it equals........

13.22 minutes per mile.

Left to Right:

Rhonda, Linda, Lacey, Susan and I

( I'm the only one whos last name wasn't Rucker )

Ryan and his cousin's, Logan and Austin, are all playing for the Chillicothe Hornets this fall. It seems strange to have them on the same team........but I love it!

By the way.....Ryan is highly embarrassable.

This is a prime example.

After we found dog food and mouse droppings in the air filter of the navigator, we decided to get barn cats. They were NOT going to be pets, they WEREN'T going to have names, we WEREN'T going to get attached.

Our "barn cats" live on the deck..........and the front porch.

They poop in my flower pots. They walk on the pool cover. They squeeze through cracked windows and wake me up at night.

They beg for warm milk and catnip.

They annoy Congo.

Really????? GO FIND THE BARN!!!!!!!!!

Making The Paper

2011-10-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

This was on the front page of Chillicothe's local paper yesterday.

I copy/pasted the article below. I highlighted the part where it spoke of Ryan.

A night of extremes for the Chillicothe High School football Hornets went heavy on the negatives, but was not devoid of plusses as the Hornets lost their fourth-straight game Friday, 56-13 to the host Maryville Spoofhounds.
The biggest negative for Chillicothe was the season-ending injury suffered in the first quarter by one of its two best players, senior Jacob Lewis. The 2-way starter sustained what CHS head coach Phil Willard said he was told was a broken leg while blocking on a kickoff return in the first quarter.
“Jacob’s kind of our heart and soul. I just feel bad for him,” Willard said after the game, his eyes seeming to moisten as he thought about the loss of the hard-nosed, hard-working senior.
Aside from that saddening occurrence, the game saw a one yard of rushing by the Hornets on 20 carries – both apparently the third-fewest in CHS history – and Maryville's excellent offense steamroll CHS for 427 ground yards, three more than St. Joseph: Lafayette netted a week before, on 49 tries
“We were having good success on the line of scrimmage,” Spoofhounds head coach Chris Holt understated.
Maryville, which led 20-0 after one period and out-gained Chillicothe 351-51 in the first half, was led by fullback Cole Forney's 151 yards and five touchdowns on 14 carries. Sophomore wingback Derek Stiens gained 143 yards on 17 rushes. Both of them were well over 100 yards by halftime of the teams’ Class 3 District 16 opener.
On the plus side for the Hornets, it displayed a heretofore-hidden passing game, completing 18 of 32 throws between sophomore new starter Tyler Clampitt and senior reserve Jake Mathew for 188 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Clampitt was 14 of 24 for 162 yards and both scores.
“I was really pleased with the way Tyler threw the football. He saw the field pretty well,” Willard assessed.
“…It was nice to be able to at least get a couple of scores on the board through the air.”
Three CHS receivers – seniors Trevor Reger and Guy Vinson and sophomore Ryan Smith – topped 50 yards and senior Austin Hatfield had the most catches – six. Vinson had a 26-yard TD catch and Smith, who essentially replaced Lewis following his injury, an 18-yarder.
“Ryan Smith caught the ball very well,” Willard observed. “They were doubling Guy a lot of the time, so that opened up some other areas.”
Chillicothe (3-5, 1-5 MEC) will have its final home game – perhaps its last ever at Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium – Friday against Cameron (2-6, 2-3 MEC), which lost to Kansas City: St. Pius X 37-12 in their Class 3 District 16 opener.
Maryville (7-1, 5-1) will travel to Kansas City: St. Pius X (5-3) for its second game of district play.
Despite the program’s rich history of highly-competitive games, especially the past 20 years, Friday’s game was anticipated to potentially become a blowout, given Maryville’s strong play all season and Chillicothe’s difficulty in sustaining a strong level of play for all four quarters. If Maryville came out playing well, there was real risk the outcome could be decided by halftime.
When the host ’Hounds overcame a short return of the opening kickoff and 5-yard penalty on their first play to move the ball 84 yards to paydirt in nine plays, the die was cast.
Forney got the first of his five first-half touchdowns from four yards away, capping a drive highlighted by Derek Stiens’ 39-yard gallop on a third-and-5 counter play the Hornets had a chance to stop right around the first-down marker.
Starting at their own 20, the Hornets’ initial possession began well enough with two runs gaining three yards each and then righthander Clampitt rolling left to hit Reger on an “out” route for 13 yards and another set of downs.
When Clampitt rushed a short swing pass on second down and threw wide of the intended receiver, it put Chillicothe in third and long, which they did not convert, leading to the first of six punts.
Maryville reinforced the message of its initial drive, taking over at its own 28 and inexorably sweeping down the field to score again. On simple “dive” plays, Forney had runs of 11, 29, and 11 yards before bursting up the middle for a 20-yard scoring scamper with 2:52 remaining in the opening period.
As the Hornets tried to adjust their defense to what Maryville was doing play to play and possession, the Spoofhounds were ready with countermeasures, Holt said.
With CHS making alignment changes late in the play clock after Maryville would set its offensive formation, the Hounds “just went high-tempo and just said we basically won’t ‘check’ (audible) anything,” the MHS coach reported. “We were just going to go as fast as we can and see if we can get them and see if we can get them off-balance, and I think that really gave them problems.”
After Clampitt missed a handoff and fumbled the ball away on a first-and-10 at the CHS 40, the quick-paced MHS attack took the ball to the end zone in five snaps, ending with an 11-yard Forney run. That made it 20-0 after one quarter.

Too Much Information!!!

2011-10-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

I'm about to share as many random things happening this week at the Smith's house as I can think of.....
Here we go.............

1. I made 7 batches of puppy chow yesterday. That means 6 large boxes of Chex cereal, four bags of chocolate chips, two jars of peanut butter and four sticks of butter. All because we are playing football tonight against the Maryville Spoofhounds and puppy chow seemed appropriate. (note: I didn't know what a spoofhound was until I googled it. If I'm being honest, I'm still not quite sure.)

2. I have had a violent case of a stomach bug that has left me with a permanent toilet ring imprint on my hiney. (too much information......sorry about that).

3. I made a FB account for my daughter and I haven't seen her so excited since......ummmm.....the Taylor Swift concert.

4. I have walked a beach littered with dead jellyfish and 10 ft + waves. My man was beside me and I smooched his face a couple times......that made the jelly fish go away in my mind.

5. I may have had too many cocktails in Florida. I have been told that I waved and shouted hello to every person that walked by me on the street. I may have even asked two homosexual men to be "The Uncles" of my children. But Rick has no proof of this and I'm sticking to my innocence.

6. I watched my middle son's football team win in the last few minutes of his football game. Ohhhhh, how I love watching Ian play football. I cannot even begin to describe it.......so I won't. Just trust me, it's a whole, whole, whole bunch.

7. I went to Gracie's universal breakfast on Tuesday, only to find out that it isn't until NEXT Tuesday. So, I'm an idiot! I ate breakfast with her anyway and it was a pure delight. Sometimes mistakes are awesome!!!

8. I have been ten shades of grumpy in the last three days. I feel a change of mood coming though. I feel like my bowels are going to be nicer today. (again......too much information).

9. I made my first batch of apple dumplings that I thought, were an epic failure! I also made a dinner experiment that I WILL NOT be trying again. Rick said he liked it, but I know that's only because he's afraid to say otherwise.

looked like this........

tasted like this.......

10. I am wanting to start a new "Thank You Thursday" based on a blog I enjoy from time to time. It's called http://thxthxthx.com and I laugh every time I read it. So, in honor of my strange-ness, I will give you my very first "Thank You Thursday" installment on a Friday.......because, that's how I roll!

So in lieu of my week........

Thank you lower intestine,

For never quite letting me forget you are there. There are many individuals who live their lives without being fully aware of you.
When I'm nervous..........you are there for me!
When I'm scared.............you are there!
Angry........yep.....you're still there!!!
Your needle-like pains jabbing through my abdomen give me the cold sweats. I'm then reminded of child-birth and the joys of motherhood. You give me gas bubbles that leave my family in complete wonder. I'm so very thankful that you begin rumbling within a 45 mile radius of my house, while praying at church, or as I lay down at night to sleep.
Lovingly attached to you,
Mandy

P.S. I hope I haven't scared you with my first note.
Tootles friends!!!!!!

Fall Walk

2011-10-12T06:13:00.000-07:00

I went for a walk in the woods last week. The same woods I went to last Fall (here is the post). It was the same park, same time, same season, and same trail. Yet the view couldn't have been more different. At first I was disappointed because I thoughly enjoyed looking at the moss beds and mushrooms, but I found other things this time I didn't see before. Leaves in every shade of red, orange and yellow and squirrels devouring mountains of acorns.

I'm not feeling too wordy today, so I will just let you look.

Happy Wednesday!

Happy Fall!

acorns

apple cider

autumn apples

bonfire boots

brown corn

cool weather

cozy

crow crisp air

full moon

leaves hot cocoa

fog sweaters

harvest

Halloween hot tea

Pumpkins leaves

frost

Dirty Dog

2011-10-11T06:24:00.000-07:00

Most days, Gus' life is uneventful.

He wakes up.....

goes potty.....

eats breakfast......

has a nap......

and then begins it all again.

He is allowed an occasional car ride, a chicken flavored bone out of his treat jar, and sometimes......sometimes, he gets a bite off my plate at dinner.

All these things are fun, however, Gus' thrill in life is when I let him out to potty......and then forget he's out there.

You see, Gus is three years old. In dog years, that makes him 25. I found an online dog/human conversion table......so it MUST be true! Often times 25 year old boys are mischievous! Since I am now 27 (ahem) and a girl, I have left those childish things behind.

Gus still has an onery streak. Forgetting him outside is like an open invitation to misbehavior. He partners in crime with his older, yet no wiser friend, Mr. T. Or T-bone as he is also known. They go on adventures....dreaming of being stars in a rock band....discovering skeletal remains of pre-historic dinosaur bones and treeing a raccoon.

Then the inevitable happens, the pond! It's forbidden, therefore, enticing!!!! It calls their names, "Gus....T-Bone.....I have water, mud, frogs and bugs"!

Then before I can make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, they are bathing knee deep in murky stinky water. The same water that houses loads of algae, worms, snakes, etc. EEEEWWWW!

When they return, Gus is muddy from his chest down. And I, his mother, get to bathe him. During the warm months, this isn't a big deal. I bring the doggie shampoo outside, suds him up and hose him off. Easy peasy! But when the weather is too cool for my pampered puppy, he gets the jetted tub.

Is Gus fond of the jetted tub? NO!

Do I care if Gus if fond of the jetted tub? NO!

Do I want to bop him in the noggin with the shampoo bottle? YES!

Now, the puppy dog look comes. Mommy, I'm sorry that I'm a mischievious 25 year old.

It's really tough being a dog you know?

Ughhhh, I forgive you Gus! Good grief!!!

Ready to Rummmmbbllleeeee!

2011-10-05T05:20:00.001-07:00

Ian had his first away game against Cameron last Thursday.

His team-mates take turns being Captains. This week was Ian's turn.

I'm not sure he was listening to the ref's instructions though, because of a mouthpiece malfunction.

A really, really bad mouthpiece malfunction!

Alright...alright...let's shake hands so we can tackle each other! Blah...blah...blah....yes, I will be a good sport. Yada...yada...yada......I promise not to clobber them to hard. La-Ti-Da........no I am not on a growth hormone!

Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!!!!!

Rick always stands on the side-lines as the team doc. I always pray that he isn't needed, but it's handy having him there. It decreases my mommy instinct to run onto the field when my babies get knocked down. I tend to.......um.......overreact

Ian surprises me when he plays football. Normally, he has a comfort bubble that no one is allowed into. He's not especially fond of hugs. However, when he's on the field, the bubble pops!!!!! I love how he is staring down his opponent. Nope......no bubble there.

Then, the ball is snapped and Ian rushes across the line to make his tackle. If you had audio with these pictures, you would hear helmets clanking together and grunting. Lots of grunting!

Looks like E-man has two or three boys on this play.

I love watching you play pigskin!

Gracie's Dream Day

2011-10-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Gracie went to her very first concert. We picked up her BFF first thing that morning and headed to the city. They both wanted matching outfits.....only different colors. I'm cool with that!

This little number is what they finally agreed on. The silly faces are an added assessory.

As you can see, my Aunt's dog, Taken, loves to be included.

We were one of the first people to arrive (cause we were so stinkin' excited). We needed snacks (what's a concert without pretzels, nachos, cheese popcorn and cotton candy?)

This is the stage. You cannot believe the props and lights and fireworks. Honestly, Taylor Swift isn't my favorite singer/songwriter, sorry Gracie.....but her stage was the best I had ever seen. NO QUESTION!!!

This tree was placed in the opposite end zone. That way both sides of the stadium were able to see her up close. When the lights were dimmed, they lit this bad boy up in every pastel shade that you can imagine. Even the Easter Bunny would have been impressed! She sang three songs under that tree. Of course, while there, she couldn't do a "dress change". Gracie thought that maybe she wore her favorite dress while doing that part 'cause she wore it the longest.

I thought I would include the article from the KC Star. It is better able to summarize the night with better adjectives than I'm capable of.

CONCERT REVIEW

Taylor Swift’s KC show a rush of spectacle and songs

BY TIMOTHY FINN

The Kansas City Star

SHANE KEYSER | The Kansas City Star

Taylor Swift sang her hits — and her young audience sang along all night — at Saturday’s show at Arrowhead Stadium.

More News

The football stadium is where rock megastars go to show off their muscle and might. It’s no place for the small, the slight or the meek.

So when Taylor Swift announced that some of the dates in her Speak Now Tour would be at football stadiums, including our own Arrowhead, some of us wondered how her pop anthems, her stage personae and her somewhat infamous voice would translate.

Saturday night, we got our answer: Just fine. For more than two hours, she rained spectacle and hit songs on nearly 50,000 fans, most of them fawning teen and preteen girls with mothers in tow.

The show was a manic rush of sights and sounds: fashion/wardrobe changes, dancing (including ballet and tap), aerial feats, the usual visual treats (confetti, fireworks, flash pots) and 17 songs performed by Swift and her nine-piece band, all presented before a towering, lavish and garish stage (big red curtain, balcony, ramps, trap doors) that rivaled one or two of U2’s stadium showcases.

At times, the circus going on around her threatened to overwhelm Swift and her songs.

The stage was flanked by two large, high-definition video screens that broadcast all the action and energy to those in the upper deck of Arrowhead. It also projected close-ups of Swift singing and playing instruments (guitar, banjo, piano, ukulele).

If she was getting any vocal “help,” it wasn’t obvious. In fact, it was obvious many times, especially when the cameras zoomed in on her, that she was singing live — and more than adequately.

She would give the folks in back some personal attention about halfway through the show, when she left the main stage, skipped to the other end of the stadium and performed solo-acoustic on a satellite stage, under another prop: A glowing, lighted tree. If anything, all the skits and interludes, which made time for all the wardrobe changes, interrupted the flow of the show.

Do the math: 17 songs in two hours and 10 minutes means there were plenty of breaks.

All the gowns and glitter and dancing and props and drama skits were icing on the cupcakes, which were the songs.

The night was one long sing-along, even when she slipped into a few verses of One Republic’s “Apologize.”

She opened with “Sparks Fly” from her “Speak Now” album, which has gone triple-platinum since its release a year ago, then two more from that album: “Mine” and “Story of Us.” But it didn’t matter much which album she pulled a song from, her fans sang along with her all night.

The show was one long highlight but a few songs ignited louder responses, such as “You Belong With Me,” “Fearless” on the ukulele, “Dear John” and the closer, “Love Story.”

Swift turns 22 in December, but she still has some of the mannerisms of a girl in her teens (the skipping, the hair flinging, some facial expressions), which suit some of her material. She ended with one of her best songs, “Fifteen,” a parable about young love that seems to resonate hard with the adolescents and with the mothers who brought them.

She can probably do that song until she retires, but it will be interesting to see how she evolves, as a songwriter and stage performer, away from the teen themes that have made her so popular. I suppose she needn’t worry about that for a bit. Right now, she’s one of the biggest things in popular music, and she has the stadium show to prove it.

As an added bonus for you.......AND ME!

I carried our little point and shoot into the concert because I didn't want to lug around the big Canon.

It was already loaded with a memory card and a full battery. No prep needed, I just threw it in my purse. When I went to download the photos from our night, I found a few bonus pictures. For instance, this nice little number of Gracie's doll, Felicity.

A nice shot of Gracie's bedroom.

The contents of our fridgerator.

A stunning self-portrait

Our Boo-boo bunny who has lived in our freezer since Ryan was a toddler.

And lastly, a pyramid that Gracie made out of M&M poker chips.

All for your viewing pleasure!

Brains, Heart, and Courage

2011-09-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was Chillicothe's Homecoming.

That means much more to me than it used to. I have a high school football player now. It also means that I'm in a group called "football moms". We painted business windows with our kid names. We tied ribbons on every single car's antennae at the high school Friday morning. Approximately 8,938,924 of them. If they didn't have antennas, we tied them on the wiper blades. I came across one car that had neither wipers or an antennae. We make desserts for Thursday night team dinners. We give the boys treats for the bus ride on away games and we ride on floats during the

Homecoming parade.

Then on Friday evening.....

I planted my hiney on a stadium bleacher, alongside my hubby. Ryan usually plays in the J.V. games and we were flabbergasted when he didn't run out with them. What Rick didn't know.......what I didn't know......what Ryan didn't know until moments before, was that he was starting his first Varsity game!

My pulse quickened.

I couldn't feel my limbs.

I started to sweat.

I thought my head might explode!

There is my boy. You see that guy running across the field? He's my son. #84.........I am his mother!

His name was announced overhead and I sort-of remember it, but it all seems a little fuzzy now. I do recall them saying something like this.........

A sophomore, playing end...............RYAN SMITH!!!!!!!!

Then the Hornets swarmed into a huddle. (you get it? Swarmed.......the Hornets swarmed. Oh forget it.)

Then the dance squad walked onto the field and did the cutest rendition of "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead" I've ever heard. Are you noticing our Homecoming theme yet?

Then, before I could catch my breath, they were lining up on the field.

I said several quick prayers. Something about protecting him, blessing him and guiding him. Again, my brain still was not clicking on all cylinders.

I always know where my boys are on the field. Both Ryan and Ian stand at least a head taller than everyone else. So, I scan their helmets. The one that sticks up above the others is usually my kid. Even though I cannot see his number in this picture, I still know exactly where he is. It's convenient.

And that would be Ryan before 2,000 pounds of boy pounced on him.

(sure glad I prayed)

He gets his facial expressions from his father.

Half-time

Put 'em up, put 'em up! Which one of you first? I'll fight you both together if you want.

I'll fight you with one paw tied behind my back. I'll fight you standing on one foot.

I'll fight you with my eyes closed.

Ohh, pullin' an axe on me, 'eh? Sneaking up on me, 'eh?

Ryan, I know you don't read this blog. It embarrasses you, I'm sure. But in case you ever do, I want you to know that this was one of my proudest moments. Your dad was just as proud, if not more. We were both running on 100% adrenaline.

You are not just an amazing athlete, your a kind young man. You're smart and I simply cannot tell you how much I love you. I know that I'm impatient with you sometimes. I understand that I'm overprotective and annoying. It's just because I KNOW I will have more proud moments like this one. I also know that it won't always include a ball.

You have a heart like the Tin-man....

You have brains like the Scarecrow....

You have courage like the Lion......

and I love you.

Mad Science

2011-09-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

Well, hello Monday!

Seems like you were just here, doesn't it?

Last week, like many of my weeks, was a complete blur!

I've ran to and fro between practices, ball games, and the grocery store countless times. Then you throw in an inkling to organize every drawer, cabinet and storage room within a 10 acre radius, and here I sit. Ready to start it all over again.

Please don't think I'm complaining! I enjoy a busy life.

I do not believe the quote that says....

“Life is just a quick succession of busy nothings.” ~ Jane Austen.

I do believe that for myself, idleness leads to boredom. I'm happiest when I'm involved with my family, my children, my husband and my friends.

You don't have to agree, that's just my way. And for me, it seems to work.

In between the aforementioned things I accomplished last week, I decorated for Halloween.

I love to "SPOOK" the house up a bit. I dangle snakes from the light fixtures and place mice on the bookshelves. I drape gauzy fabric from the furniture and pose the skeletons on mantel.

I add something new every year to our crazy collection of eerie frights.

This year I may have my new all-time favorite. Dr. Giggles, the mad-scientist. I love him for 3 reasons.

#1. He makes reference to diarrhea, and that instantly made him apart of our family.

#2. He seems more rattled than me, based on the four or five things he says.

#3. He seems misunderstood........and I always root for the underdog.

Without further ado, friends, I introduce to you, Dr. Giggles.

Dr. Giggles, I introduce you to my cyber family.

I supplied Dr. Giggles with an assortment of chemicals and potions for his experiments and such.

Everyone knows that you cannot complete a lab experiment without deer antlers and severed fingers.

I combined potassium chloride and liquid ammonia to make a potent truth serum. Anyone care to join me for dinner? Mah wah hah!

(Disclaimer: I have no idea what happens when you combine potassium chloride and liquid ammonia. Do not try at home. I may.....or may not have added a wee bit of red food coloring to water and slapped a Martha Stewart halloween label on an old margarita mix bottle.)

These beauties on the other hand are authentic, certifiable, and bona-fide. These are old medicine bottles that Rick and I have collected for eons. Grandma and Grandpa Howe and my Aunt Pammy have helped us add the assortment over the years.

Rick's Granny and Grandpa Smith owned a pharmacy

When Grandpa passed, Granny had an auction and we purchased some of their old supplies. We were newly married and pinched for extra cash, so we didn't get it all. We kick ourselves for not buying it all now....but at the time, it just didn't seem practical.

You may have to squint, but I am amazed at the advise this author gave pregnant women on smoking. Jeez...times have sure changed.

I thought I would close with a few mad scientist images I found and a rock candy science experiment I would like to try with the kids. I'm off to mow the yard. Hopefully for the last time this year!!!!!

Happy Monday!

Rock Candy for Kids

Ingredients

2 cups granulated sugar

Heavy cord

1 cup water

Directions

Put one cup of water into a small saucepan, pour 2 cups of granulated sugar into the water, heat the water and sugar on the stove over a medium heat, continue stirring until the sugar melts, keep adding sugar and stirring until it melts, stop adding sugar when you see that it will no longer dissolve in the water (that is until you see sugar lying on the bottom of the saucepan). Remove the pot from the stove, let the liquid cool until it is just warm.
Pour the liquid into a clean glass jar.
Tie one end of a piece of heavy cord around the middle of a pencil.
Place the pencil over the top of the glass jar letting the cord fall into the liquid.
Crystals will begin to form in a few hours The next day, remove the cord from the jar, pour the sugar liquid back into the saucepan, reheat and cool it just as you did before. Pour the liquid back into the jar and reinsert the cord with the crystals into it. More crystals will form.
If you repeat this procedure every day the crystal candy will grow bigger and bigger.
When it has reached a size that pleases you, snip off any excess string and enjoy.

The Big 1-0

2011-09-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

So, I've been thinking about birthdays.

(You know, a caution sign should flash above my head when I start thinking).

Wouldn't it be amazing if everyone had a sign that flashed their mood above their head?

If I embarrassed my children, their sign would flash "embarrassed".

If I made my hubby mad, his would flash "ANGRY"!

If I frustrated a store clerk, it would flash (yes, you guessed it)..."frustrated".

Gosh, how easy would that be.

Oh wait! That means that when I go to church and I'm annoyed because the cat puked on the floor and no one can clean it up but me (strange how that is, huh?) The kids have fought all morning and the husband is watching ESPN while I'm trying to get myself and the monkeys ready. I was having a good hair day until I walked outside and noticed it was raining. I plaster a smile across my face because that is what everyone does when they walk into church. My flashing sign would say, "#%@#-ed off beyond words and nothing the pastor says today is going to sink in because I'm having a pity party. Look at how happy all these other people are. Smiling......twinkling eyes.....and cute little cheek dimples." (I'm going to need a very large sign).

Then I read their signs..........and I begin to feel better.

Whoa, I think this post was supposed to be about a birthday!

Now do you see now why I need a caution sign?

OK, I've collected my thoughts.

As I was beginning to tell you, I've been thinking about birthdays.

Namely because my sweet, little, angel, baby girl celebrated her 10th birthday last week.

Yup, she has blessed my world for a whole decade.

In some ways, I cannot remember my life without her.

Then other times, I think about the time I held her for the very first time, and it feels like yesterday.

She is my pal. My sidekick (or maybe I'm her sidekick).

Birthdays are to Gracie like peanut butter is to jelly. She thinks about her birthday. She plans her parties year round. She changes her party ideas 4,234 times throughout the year. A week before her birthday, she told me she was going to take many naps and go to bed early every night, so her birthday would get here quicker.

NOTE: She just turned 10 and she is already planning her sweet 16.

What I'm trying to say is........for Emma Grace, birthdays are BIG!

BIG, BIG, BIG!

Gus' birthday was June 9th. He could care less! Birthdays mean nothing to him.

However, he understands that they mean a lot to Gracie, so he mustered up some extra energy and joined us for the gift opening ceremony. (If Gus had a sign above his head in this picture, it would say "BORED")

We all signed a card for her. Everyone knows (but no one admits), opening a card before a gift is semi worthless. We are all so curious about what they gift is that we hardly read the card. Anyone relate? I'm speaking the truth here, people!

Gracie did a very good job of acting like she was interested in the card.

Because she has opened many gifts in this particular shape, she pretty well knew what was inside the package.

She also told me multiple times exactly what she wanted. She marked catalogs and left them on the counter for me to see.

Please ignore that my middle child is picking his toenails off in this photo.

This is what Gracie asked for......her gazillion-th American Girl doll. She wanted this one because she has super long hair. My daughter has hair styling DVD's THAT SHE WATCHES!!! She watches YOUTUBE videos on up-do's and braiding. Most girls want headbands and bows for their hair.....Gracie wants them for her dolls.

Gus has just about reached the top of his patience max!

Gus doesn't need a caution sign, he has a tongue!

Gracie did not know that Rick and I purchased a gift that she didn't ask for. As a matter of fact, we purchased this gift almost 5 months ago. Maybe even longer ago than that.

The gift was four tickets to see Taylor Swift in concert.

She has never been to a concert and has never seen a concert ticket, so it took a little bit for her to figure it out.

She looked and looked. The sign above her head would say, "Confused"!

Then it clicked! She read the name on the ticket. He turned bright red, started shaking like a leaf and then had a little trouble breathing.

You see, when you ask Gracie what she wants to be when she grows up, she says, "I want to write songs for Taylor Swift". She has a karaoke machine and sings Taylor Swift all the time. She has all her CD's and knows every song like the back of her hand.

I have never seen her so excited in all my life! She called four or five people to tell them. She squealed for over an hour. She jumped up and down and ran around the house.

Aunt Pam was on speaker phone with us while Gracie opened her gifts.

Yes.....I took a picture of the phone.

The concert is this Saturday and I cannot wait to show you pictures.

Gus' sign now says, "misery".

Yes, Ian is still picking his toenails.

And yes, I put a strategically placed a sea shell on Gus because I care about you.

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Proud as a Peacock

2011-09-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

I wish there were a way to bottle certain feelings. Namely the feeling I had last night at Ryan's second JV football game. My heart swelled as he caught a pass (while being double covered) and ran for nearly 70 yards . Then in the fourth quarter, he caught a touchdown pass that doubled my heart rate and plastered a smile across my face. There is no other feeling like being proud of your offspring.

#84 has his game face on

Yup, that's Ryan, in a headlock.

Ian is playing his first 8th grade football game and I'm hoping that I get those warm fuzzies again. You see, Ian is a little timid off the field. He's quiet and bashful. But when the ball snaps, the man/child turns into a raging buffalo. He forgets his manners and charges across that field. Boys have been known to reposition themselves so they aren't lined up against him. I'm not just saying this because he's my boy. It's a known fact. Besides, it's my blog, and I can brag if I want to! I can selectively leave out that I had to go to school yesterday to get Ian's phone because he was caught playing "Angry Birds" before school. Or that I have to run forgotten homework to them at least once a week. I can also leave out that the monkeys give me sighs and eye rolls almost daily. I may also fail to tell you that when I pick them up from practice, I have to roll down car windows and spray air freshners in the car. Teenage boys are officially in my top 10 worst smells. Therefore, if they do something that makes me happy.......darn right I'm gonna talk about it!

While I'm at it, I might as well brag about my daughter. She has finally taken interest in her grooming habits! She loves pretty clothes, high heeled shoes and assessories, but bathing has never concerned her. Until the last week!! I have added hair styling to my list of morning rituals. (please note that I STILL have not missed making breakfast once morning since school started) What started as an occasional good deed for the kids, has now become an expecatation. They now ask the night before what they will be eating the next morning. I've even had a few requests as of late. I'm afraid that I've created a breakfast monster. The days of Pop-Tarts and milk with cereal are gone. Boo-hoo!

Anyway, back to Gracie. She has been cute as a button for the last week with wavy curls and lip-gloss. I'm so proud! She is also going to turn the big 1-0 tomorrow and she made a point to tell me that she wanted that on her cake! She also said yesterday that she will be taking lots of naps and going to bed early so her birthday will get here quicker. Funny girl! She is possibly the sweetest girl on the planet. I'm never short on hugs and kisses from her. She's my little side-kick and I love her with all my heart.

911

2011-09-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

Last Friday night, Ryan had another football game. It was against Kirksville......and they won. That is very good news but I would like to tell you about what happened AFTER the game. This story deserves a post of it's own.

Let me forewarn you. It is a little like Family Circus at the Smith's home. Sometimes I'm so worn out that all I want to do is crawl into my soft and warm bed. This was one of those nights. I had worked my fingers to the bone around the house (cleaning, running errands and such). The football game started at 7:00 p.m. and it didn't finish until after 10:00 p.m.. Rick was on call the entire holiday weekend in Carrollton and the boys wanted to go to the after game "Bash". The "Bash" is hosted by a local church and our YMCA. Middle school age (Ian) go to the church. High school age (Ryan) go to the Y. While the boys were mingling with friends and eating Cheetos, Gracie and I drove........and we drove......and we drove. We drove/sat in the car for over an hour. It was boring and the hour seemed like 20 hours. Then my little monkey fell asleep. That was good and bad for me. It was bad because, I had no one to talk to. It was good because, I had no one to talk to.

So, finally.......I had collected all the kiddos and we headed home. We pulled into the driveway at nearly 12:00 a.m.. My eyes were burning because I was so tired. I barely had the rig in park before I was opening my door to run to the bed.

I'm all nestled under the covers and it's warm and cozy. I drift off to dreamland. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Then a noise woke me from my slumber at 12:45 a.m.. After I sat up in bed and tried to knock down the cobwebs, I realized that it was the doorbell. I was a little spooked but I figured that it was an electrical glitch. Then, out of nowhere comes at least 15 more dings on the doorbell. OK, I'm sorta panicked. I'm in my long purple night gown with bleach spots on the front. You know, Rick's favorite! I'm trying my very best to collect myself. THE DOORS!!! Make sure the doors are locked! All the upstairs doors are secure. I make a bee-line to the basement for two reasons.

#1. I need to make sure that those doors are locked.

#2. I need to make sure that my teenage boy is where he is supposed to be! (Why is that always a mom's first thought in these situations. Welp, must be the teenager!)

The teen was sitting in front of the T.V.. ASLEEP! This was also good and bad news. The good news is that he was where he was supposed to be. The bad news is that it isn't him ringing the door bell!

In my part crying.....part whispering (we need to be quiet so the burglar won't hear us).....part WAKE THE %$#@ UP NOW voice, I startled Ryan awake. I'm not sure what I thought my 15 year old was going to do to help me. Maybe he could cover my back when I went after the intruder with my open bolt, blowback-operated sub machine gun. Oh wait, I don't have an open bolt, blowback-operated sub machine gun. No........I have a 15 year old who is now threatening to go outside and beat the intruder up. NICE! You might be glad to know that I didn't allow that.

By now, the doorbell has been run at least 596 times. Ryan is officially as freaked out as I am. I am standing in the kitchen trying to think of my next move. RICK! I'm going to call Rick! I will call him because if I am overreacting, he will calm me down. He will help me realize that this is all just a very bad dream and I'm really still cuddled in my warm and cozy bed.

While I am explaining the situation to my beloved husband, someone starts banging on the windows. And now the door! I'm also hearing a voice. I know for sure now that this isn't an electrical glitch. This is a real-live Freddy Kruger at my door. I am beyond words at this point. My voice is cracking with fear as I'm talking to Rick. My guess is that he hears the fear and he told me to call the police.

I dial 911 because this seemed like an emergency to me.

Dispatcher: "911, please state your emergency".

Me: "Ummm....I'm probably overreacting, but someone is ringing my doorbell and knocking on my windows".

Dispatcher: "What is your address"?

Me: I tell him

Dispatcher: "Please stay on the line while I dispatch someone to your location".

While I'm holding on the phone with 911, I notice Ryan is trying to catch a peek out the dining room windows. Then he says, "Mom..........it's Gracie!!!!!!!!"

I'm still on hold with the dispatcher from 911, so I say....................

Me: Sir......sir, it was my daughter. OMG, it was my daughter! Sorry, sooooo sorry!

In summary.......

Gracie fell asleep in the rig.

The boys and I piled out of the car once the car was in the garage and the engine was off.

Gracie did not pile out of the car.

Gracie was still sleeping.

I locked all the doors and the sleeping beauty could not get in.

When sleeping beauty woke up in the car and could not get in the locked doors, SHE FREAKED!

Now my fear has subsided and a huge helping of guilt lands on me. My poor daughter. My poor red-head. My poor husband. The poor 911 dispatcher who took my call.

Gracie then crawled into bed with me and we laughed. We laughed cause it was over. We laughed because she wasn't a burglar or Freddie Kruger. We laughed because her mother is a fruit cake!

For you viewing pleasure, Gracie and I did a mini reenactment of our traumatic night.

Moral of the story....

Make sure all the monkeys are out of the car before you lock the doors.

Football and Friends

2011-09-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

As of today, Chillicothe Varsity and Jr. Varsity Hornets are undefeated! Yeah! We have a really tough game tomorrow night in Smithville, but it has been lots of fun watching them. Ryan started his first JV game on the 29th. I nearly passed out when he caught the very first touchdown pass. Seriously people...... I felt light-headed and woozy! It was a good woozy though! I'm a crazy person!

My red-head ran his first Varsity play two Fridays ago. Everything seemed different when you are watching the game as a parent instead of a fan. I noticed that visiting with friends was not an option. In the years past, I hardly remembered watching at all. It was social hour. Now the game makes my heart thump. It makes my pulse speed up. It makes my stomach turn into knots. It makes me want to shout obscenities at the opposite team (I refrained).

Thank goodness #84 lined up on my side.

It seems like I just jumped into our new pool. Now we are talking about closing it up. The temperatures have dived into the 70's this week (which feels wonderful), but it means chilly whilly water. I let each of the monkeys have a friend over last weekend. They all swam in the pool together. It was sort of our last hurrah.

Gracie has been BFF with Magy since, well, a long time. They make many many phone calls to each other, take turns spending the night at each other's houses, and play with each other at recess. What a pair!

Why I Snap....

2011-08-30T08:09:00.001-07:00

I love photography. For me, it's the only way I can stop those fleeting moments. I know that I cannot literally stop time, however, I have a still of that exact second. It seems my monkeys have grown so quickly. Photography gives me proof that they weren't born 6' tall. It gives me proof that I have run them to countless baseball, basketball, football and gymnastic practices.

I love photography because..... it allows me to stop moments in my life. My wee little brain is only capable of storing so much. Pictures revive my memory. They tell me..."Oh yeah, I remember going to the park to walk trails with the kids". Just silly memories that are usually only important to my family and friends.

Photography also calms me. Yesterday morning I went for a walk around Rocky Ridge Farm. I took Mr. T, my faithful steed, and my iphone. I didn't want to lug around my bulky Canon. I learned that taking a walk with the idea of snapping pictures, helped me open my eyes. I looked for things that were interesting......pretty......different. Without my phone, I would have stared at my shoes. That, friends, is not as fun. Especially since they were soaking wet with morning dew.

So, I thought I would share with you some recent iphone pictures. I used vintage filters on all of them with a free app called Instagram.

Gracie and I having a little mustache fun.

The woods in our bottom field.

A rising sun.

A lilly pad seed pod.

A small patch of thistle.

My good ole' dog

The carnival at the MO State Fair

This is the first hydrangea that has lasted more than a year at my house. They are my favorite flower but for some reason, they don't like me!

Gracie eating cotton candy at the Royals game.

Sheep nestled in their pens at the MO State Fair

My giant son who towers over me now.

A rooster that really should be living at my house.

Not So Bloggie

2011-08-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

Now that the kids are in school, I'm finding I have more time to blog.

That's a good thing.

Except, I'm not feeling so bloggie. I'm not sure that I have ever been speechless before. Even worse, my annoying sarcasm has left me. I know, I'm shocked too.

So, I've always found that when I'm not feeling so wordy, a top 10 is the answer!!!!

So here goes...........

1. I had the oil changed in my SUV today. My "oil change required" light has only been blinking for three weeks or so. (ahem) I was waiting in the lobby when the service man told me my rig was finished. He said, "We gotter' finished. Everything looks good. You might want to put mouse poison in your garage though, because we found dog food and poopie in your air filter." NICE! EMBARRASSING! I'm getting an outdoor cat by the way. Maybe three or four of them. Maybe ten or twelve.

2. I'm reading a book that I'm not too excited about. It's called "100 cupboards". The OCD in me won't let me quit until I finish it. This may be the first time that I've started a series and only read one. I am not, I repeat, I AM NOT, cracking the spine of the second and third book. Please remind me I said this.

3. My red-head has his first 2011 football game tonight. Around 10:00 p.m., he handed me his home/away jerseys, and said, "I need my name sewn on these by tomorrow morning". Since I'm not a seamstress, I worked till 12:00 a.m. on them.

Me + no sleep = grouchy!!!!!

4. I'm excited to watch the very first episode of Pioneer Woman Saturday morning. I may tape it and watch it later. Still not sure what I will be doing this weekend.

Here is the link to a sneek peek of the show

5. These made me laugh this week and I couldn't resist sharing.

6. A dear, sweet lady named Carolyn is always treating our family with her baking. She visits Rick at his office in Norborne and sometimes brings goodies. One of our favorite things is her cookies. They are gigantic and scrumptious. She has brought us two pecks of peaches recently and I'm so glad to get them. I plan on making a cobbler or a pie out of them. I made jam out of the first batch.

If you read this Carolyn, thank you......thank you.....thank you! You're the best and we adore you!

In case you're wondering......(which I'm sure you are not), I've been experimenting with food photography. It's kinda fun.

7. I am still making breakfast each morning for the monkeys. I wake up at 6:00 a.m. to get everything started. I made bacon and egg cups yesterday morning and they were delish.........and easy!!!! I will put the recipe at the bottom of this post in case you are interested.

8. An organization bug has bit me. That usually happens about three times a year. All my drawers are getting a make over........and I like it.

9. I just found someone who is bringing me two outdoor kitties. Yeah!!! No more dog food in the air filters. That, my friends, is reason to celebrate!

10. I am stalking Pinterest and Martha Stewart for Halloween decorating ideas. Yup, I know........I'm crazy!

Bacon and Egg Cups

1 package of pre-made pie crust

1/2 lb. bacon (or 6 slices), cooked and crumbled (I cut my bacon up into tiny pieces before I cook it. I think that makes it easier. It's completely up to you though.)

12 eggs

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll pie crusts and cut circles with a large mouth cup. Put the circles into a greased muffin pan. Press the dough into the holes to form a cup.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. You can add the cheese now but I like to put it into each cup so they are consistent.

Fill each muffin pan cup half full of egg mixture.

Add cheese, onion, bacon, sausage, peppers, mushrooms....whatever your little heart fancies.

Bake for 20 minutes until the crust is light brown.

Fish and Polliwogs

2011-08-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

I'm loving the new underwater camera that Rick bought me. Such a sweet hubby, he is.

Back to School

2011-08-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

Rick and I sent the monkeys back to school.

We have survived three mornings of 6:00 a.m. wake-ups. So far...........so good!

I'm trying my hardest to digest having a sophmore......8th grader.......and a 4th grader. Holey Moley, how in the world?

I've decided to step up my maternal duties and make more breakfasts for the kiddos. So far, I've made what I call "Popeye" eggs

Remember this guy? I still cannot look at Popeye without thinking of Robin Williams

B&G (a no-fail). By the way, I would rather unclog a toilet than clean up a skillet of cold gravy. Just saying.

and good ole' bacon, eggs and biscuits.

On the first day of school I like getting pictures of the kiddos. They, on the other hand, do not like getting pictures. Well, maybe Gracie does, but the boys DO NOT! They sigh.....the stomp their feet......they complain.....then they give me sour looks while I snap the picture.

I started saying strange things and talking in Chinese.

They think their mom is a nerd.

For the most part, I am.

I cannot help it.

I keep telling them when they have monkeys, they will become a nerd also. It's the way God designed us.

YOU ARE COOL.......TILL YOU HAVE KIDS!!!!

It's the 11th commandment. Moses ran out of room on the tablet.

So, after a filling breakfast, I drove them down the driveway and waited for the bus. I watched them get on and drive away.

Then I had a little "woe is me" session because I missed them a little.

Then I walked around the house and assessed all the work that had accumulated over the Summer.

Then I thought......"I can always start talking to Gus again........or myself".

Tenderloin Challenge

2011-08-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

WHO:

Ian Smith

Kyle Ross

Lane Bonderer

Alex Kelly

Zach Foyt

WHAT:

An stuff your face, forget all your table manners, eat till' you vomit contest. (sounds fun, huh?)

WHERE:

Our local grocery store (Hy-VEE)

WHY:

The winner gets his/her meal for free, a coveted photo in the Hy-Vee hall of fame, and a t-shirt. Other than that......I'm not sure why you would do this.

WHEN:

Let me explain.......Ian's birthday is May 19th. This always falls on the last week of school. The Smith's take their annual family vacation the day after school gets out. Which means.........Ian's birthday party usually gets postponed. :( Ian also took a week vacation with his Grandma and Grandpa Smith to Washington D.C., then a middle school mission trip to Sedalia, MO, and lastly, he went to Nashville, TN with his confirmation class from church. Needless to say, our middle child has been well traveled this summer. So, it's now August and Ian is just now getting his party.

RULES:

1. You are given 30 minutes to consume all the food on your plate.

2. Your food will weight nearly five pounds.

3. You may remove only a few vegetables.

4. You vomit, your out!

Alex never really made it to far. He took the "Mandy" approach, I will nibble and appear like I'm eating a bunch. Meanwhile, watching everyone else make idiots of themselves".

I never figured out Lane's stragedy. Mid-way through the contest, he piled 30 french fries on his sandwich ('cause it wasn't thick enough already).

Ian dove into the food with full force. Ten minutes into the contest, he had all his fries gone and over half of his sandwich. I started to think that this might be possible. I would be such a proud mother of a food eating champion. Once this occured to me, I started rooting him on. "Come on Ian, you can do it"! "Don't slow down Ian"! "Eat baby, eat"!!!!!!!

With ten minutes left, Ian started making strange faces. Faces that said, HOLY COW, I am miserable! Some of his faces said, I may lose everything I've ate in the past 20 minutes. Then other faces said, TAKE ME TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM, STAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kyle started making some of these faces too. Although I hadn't ate a bite, I wanted to vomit everytime I saw his plate. It was more like five pounds of food and three pounds of ketchup. Blech!

Lane and Zach are still smiling! That's a good sign!

The water finally stopped washing down Ian's food. He hit a brick wall. No amount of belching could save him now.

Very attractive.......I'm so proud!

My cheering stopped working, there was no way he was going to take another bite. As a matter of fact, he had the last bite in his mouth for five minutes. I reduced myself to bribery. I offered him money, I offered to take his trash duty for the next three times, and I believe I offered him cherry pie (that was probably not the best timing on my part). He couldn't bring himself to swallow anything else.

I'm thankful that he is laughing........and not puking!

Before I left the grocery store, I bought trash bags for the ride home. Just in case!

In a Year's Time

2011-08-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

The 9th of August marked the one year anniversary of Mike's death. It's been a difficult year for our family. However, it has also been a year of learning.........growing closer.........and a lot of living.

We wanted to honor Mike by having a celebration in his honor. He would have loved that. We fixed all his favorite foods (well, maybe not all of them. lol)

BLT's, cheesecake, german potato salad, salami/cheese/crackers, and peach cobbler. I couldn't possibly remember all the things that were there. One of Mike's greatest joys was food. Pam says that he would make his plate like an artist paints on canvas.

Eric said some words before he ate that had everyone in tears. I'm going to try my best to summarize it.

He said that we came together for three reasons........

#1. This is the last of the firsts. Meaning that we have went through a year of first holidays without Mike, a year of the first birthdays without Mike, and a year of memories without Mike. This day marked the last time that we will say, "This is our first Christmas without Mike", or "This is the first birthday I've spent without Mike", or "This is the first trip that we have taken without Mike". There is no doubt in my mind that we will still have firsts without Mike, but it seems that the first 365 days are the hardest. Things are still so fresh in your mind.

#2. Gathering together as family and friends is exactly what Mike would have wanted us to do.

Yes....everyone is busy. Yes....I know it is a Tuesday night. Yes.....I have to mow my yard too. But this was important. This was something you can't miss. These are the moments you cannot recreate.

#3. Our kids. We need to do it so they remember their PaPa or their Ungle Mike. We need to this so they understand what family is. We need to do this so they recognize the people who will always be there for them. When Mike was gone, one of the hardest things was seeing the kids upset. I spent countless hours talking to my kids about it. I know that my cousins did the same thing with their kids also. Just because they are half the size of an adult does not mean that they have half the feelings.

Then Joshua prayed over our food and by this time there was hardly a dry eye.

If the above picture isn't a reason to celebrate, I don't know what is?

This was taken one year ago after Mike's funeral. Wouldn't you agree that much has changed in a year!

I really really love my family. They aren't just family to me, they are some of my very best friends. The little people make my heart swell. They make me want to pinch cheeks. They make me want to put bricks on their heads (so they will stop growing up so quick).

Pool Construction

2011-08-11T20:38:00.000-07:00

This may be a long and boring post for some.

For the Smiths, though, it's an event that I would like to remember.

Hopefully this "hole in the ground" will provide us with many family memories.

This pool was not a rash decision. Rick and I had many talks about it, spent much of the last year thinking about it, and we reseached several companies before making up our minds.

Ultimately, I think our choice was for us, very wise. It may mean that we take a smaller vacation next year. But to me, that is a small sacrifice. Quality time together (not in front of the television) is far more important.

Therefore, I thought you might like to see the construction process. Most of these photos were taken with my iphone (so I beg forgiveness on the picture quality). Some were taken by my daughter (because I knew she wouldn't be embarrassed to take pictures while the men were working. I however, was embarrassed.)

Large track hoes were brought in to dig the hole. Since the pool is 9 foot at the deepest and 3 foot at the shallowest, the hole had to be exact. Since the day Rick and I signed the pool contract, we were afraid that we would hit rock. That would have required heavier equipment. Which meant more "moola". When we built our house nearly 8 years ago, we dug the backyard down 7 feet to make a walk out basement. If you add that to the deep pool depth, that equals a whopping 16 feet in total!!!! I'm still amazed that they didn't hit anything substancial. Only small boulders that will make nice landscaping rocks.

It's hard to see the scale in this picture. The pool is 40 foot by 20 foot.

This is the mountain of red clay that was dug out of our pool.

This is a shot from the deck. Sortof a different perspective.

This was my birthday, and I thought it would be appropriate to stand in the middle of my present.

The next day they put up forms for the surrounding concrete. They also put up supports along the upper edge of the pool.

They installed our shallow end steps

They hooked up the plumbing and electric. This is a picture of the bottom of the pool. It rained some this day, so it made a bit of a mess. It was much needed though. The temperatures were over 100 degrees all week and the workers were spent.

This photo shows the steps in the deep end of the pool.

Our backyard is an absolute mess. Equipment, tractors, track hoes, bobcats, etc have been driving through the yard.

The above photo shows our heater and salt chlorinator.

When the pool finally dried out, they were able to put the pool sand in. This is mixed with water then dropped into the pool. The workers then smoothed it out before it dried and hardened.

After this was done I began to see a light at the end of the tunnel. It started taking shape.

The liner was then put in and the hoses were turned on. Three of them poured into the pool for a total of two days.

We had a crew come from Kansas City to put "Cool Decking" on the concrete. This is just as the name implies. It makes the concrete cool during the hot summer months.

We have yet to get the cover (it's supposed to be here Monday) and our chlorinator and filters aren't running.

We have lots of landscaping to do. We plan on doing some this Fall but much of it is going to have to wait until next Summer. That will give me time to decide exactly the way I want it to look. In the meantime, it's kindof a mess.

T-Bone doesn't seem to mind.

Good think this big dawg doesn't like to be wet. 'Cause this is as close to the pool as he is going to get.

In memory of my "Ungle" ♡

2011-08-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

It sure seems strange how much things can change in a year.

Really, things can change drastically within a day.

One year ago today changed my family forever.

It was the beginning of 2-a-days (football) for Ryan. I dropped him off super early that morning. It all seemed so routine. Wake up, get the kiddos ready, make a pot of coffee, you know, the stuff you do every day. While I was sitting in my car, waiting to pick him up, I got a phone call that no one ever wants to get.

It was Josh (my cousin who is as close as a brother to me), he told me that my Uncle Mike was in a wreck and was gone.

So one minute........normal

The next..........destroyed.

The next hours seem like such a blur and honestly, I really don't want to think about it.

I miss him terrribly.

My kids miss him.

My family misses him.

My Pammy misses him.

While today is going to be hard for us, I am also rejoicing in all that has happened in the past year.

I've learned that my family is thick as mud.

I've learned that it's ok to cry on each other's shoulders sometimes.

I've learned that we are stinkin' tough!!

This picture is special to me because it also has Tegan in it. We lost her a week before Mike.

This picture is how I remember Mike. Smiling most of the time. He even smiled while watching commercials. lol

What a good man and what a legacy he has left.

I love you Mike.

I thank you for all our talks.

I thank you for sharing Jesus with me.

I thank you for taking us to the river.

I thank you for playing games with my kids.

I thank you for your silly jokes.

I thank you for making breakfast when I spent the night.

I thank you for babysitting my kids.

I thank you for loving my kids like your own grandchildren.

I thank you for taking such good care of Pammy.

I thank you for late night trips for ice cream.

I thank you for scrapbooking with me.

I thank you for nature walks and jumping across rocks at Burr Oak.

I thank you for your special song on my birthday.

I thank you for everything.

Idol, Pools, and Hands.....oh my!

2011-08-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

Our American Idol Live 2011 was a tremendous success!!!!! I had very low expectations because I've never done anything like this before. In the paperwork, they mentioned that we would only meet two of the top 12. Because I am pessimistic by nature. I figured it would be my very least favorites of the top 12. You cannot imagine my surprise when ALL 12 OF THEM WERE THERE! Seriously!!!!!

Rick and Pia

You will be glad to know that I didn't claw Pia's eyes out. I wanted to..........but didn't!

Paul and I

You may also notice that all the pictures of my hubby with the pretty idols turned out crystal clear. While the pictures of me with the handsome boys turned out fuzzy.

I think Rick carefully planned this.

My new boyfriend, Casey Abrams

Casey is one of my very favorites. He rocks the bass!!! He made Jack Black look cool!!! ANNNDDDDD, he gave me TWO super duper hugs.

Haley and Rick

Yet another crystal clear picture of Rick and Haley.

Scotty and I

Hummmm..... little fuzzy, don't ya think? And what is happening with my lips. Really Rick? lol

On to other Smith news......

Our pool is nearing completion. They still have to install the cover and the basketball goal. I'm pretty sure the heater isn't hooked up yet either. Oh yeah, it's only half full. But besides all these things, it's almost done. T-bone is going to have to stay away from it or I will blow a gasket. It sure has been a hot summer for him. The pond will have to remain his pool though.

Our yard is such a mess. It's embarrassing. We have had track-hoes, bobcats, numerous trucks and tractors mauling it in the last two weeks.

We have oodles and oodles of 'mators ripening in the garden! Most of them have these crazy cracks in them though. I'm not sure what causes that. Probably lack of gardening skills. Or it could be 100% neglect. Either way, they still taste the same. Delish!

This photo is also going to double as a photo of my hand in my photo challenge.

I am going to wait to post pictures of the clouds because it's grey and overcast today. I'm sure there are clouds up there, but I cannot see them. It really wouldn't make a very nice photo.

I'm planning on doing a monster pool construction post. It will take me a little bit, so please be patient with me. I took one million and three pictures. Some with my iphone and others with my camera. I even shooed Gracie out the door a few times because I was too embarrassed to do it myself. You know, with the workers there and all.

Photo Challenge

2011-08-02T06:10:00.000-07:00

I found this on Pinterest and thought it might be fun to try.

You know how I am, however. If I miss a day or two, please don't be angry.

Please don't throw eggs.

Please don't take me out of the will.

I also found this 30 day challenge, I cannot for the life of me, decide which one to do.

The type A part of me says......."The first one DOES say June and it is August"!

The type XYZ part of me says......"It has really nice swirly designs and pretty pastels (which are my fav.)"!

However, the second one lets me do whatever I please every fifth day. I like doing whatever I please. No one has EVER put in writing for me that I can do whatever I please! EVER!

So.....I may do both.

Tonight Rick and I have backstage passes to see the top 12 American Idol contestants. They sent our VIP badges and book beforehand.

Folks, I don't think I have ever been labeled VIP in my life.

I may never take this badge off.

I'm really excited to see this guy. Mostly because he sings well but also because he makes me laugh.

Rick wants to see this guy. Probably because he sang the best version of "Uprising" that we have ever heard!

We are promised to meet at least two of the contestants. Please....please.....please, let it be them.

If we meet Pia, I'm going to either poke her eyes out (so she won't be so stinkin' pretty)..... or........

I'm going to poke Rick's eyes out (so he can't look at her).

Just kidding!!!!

Kinda!!!

Since both photo challenges ask for a self-portrait the first day, I didn't have to commit to one or the other until day 2.

Rick always teases me because I tilt my head to the side when someone takes my picture. Apparently, I even tilt it when I take one of myself. lol