I've Never Met A Pit I've Liked...

And then came Molly, Kyle James and Meghan's pup.
OK..so she's really not a "puppy", she's actually middle aged and kind of, slightly, just a tiny bit, overweight..especially in the "pear" area, much like myself. :0/

She's a lover, not a fighter.
She likes treats, so do I.
She drools, I haven't started yet.
She likes to roll in the wet grass, I like to walk in it.
She needs a manicure, so do I.
She likes a good rub behind the ears, I'm cool with that too.
She tries to act young, I have the same problem.
She understands my quirkiness, I kinda like hers too.
She poses for the camera...and that my kind of best friend.



She also likes to go for morning strolls on the dock, about 30 feet from Kyle James' apartment to go look for gators.
We hang out here alot in the mornings..



Word has it there is a bigger then a canoe size Mama gator who lives there {Kyle's seen her lots of times}, but I haven't seen her yet, through, a few mornings a week, I show up bright and early with my camera, grab Molly and her leash and head on down to the docks...but that darn gator has other plans, because I can hear her {yep..gators make sounds} and I can see the bubbles she makes in the water....but that's about it.
Darn her..come on out purty Mama so can shoot you. {Camera shooting..or course}.

We hope you all have a beautiful day today!!

Please stay safe if you are anywhere near the path of Gustav. Our prayers go out to all of you who will be effected, especially all of our Louisiana friends.
Please stay in tough...we will be worrying until you do!!

Take care everyone...Later Gators!!

PS. Your all very welcome for the recipe!!
This past school year Kody and Kolin had it added to their school cookbooks. How cool is that? :0)

Strawberry Shortcake Dessert a/k/a You'll Never Eat S.S In Those Little Yellow Cake Cups Again

Here ya'all go, the one, the only, the original Strawberry Shortcake Dessert.
Once you eat it, you'll never want to go back to eatin' those little yellow cake cups things again...for real.

Just so you know, this is easy..it has to be, I am not a kitchen/cooking person and this makes Sara Lee's "Almost Homemade" show look like work.

This is what you'll be making....



This is what you'll need from the store..

One pre-made angel food cake
A bunch of strawberries
A big tub of Cool Whip {let it sit in the fridge until it's thawed out}
One container of strawberry glaze {sold where the strawberries are}
One block of cream cheese {I know, sounds gross but you'll never taste it..believe me}

This is your prep...

Cut up the angel food cake into bit sized chunks and set aside.
Slice strawberries and set aside.
With an electric mixer, mix the cream cheese and about 1/3 of the strawberry glaze until you get a really pretty raspberry shade of pink, set that aside.

This is how you put it together...

In a pretty big bowl {clear bowls look best...but mine had broke so I used what I had that didn't have leftovers in it}

Layer...

Angel food cake chunks
Blobs of cream cheese/glaze mixture
Drizzle or spoon over the extra strawberry glaze.
Cool Whip
Strawberries

**It really doesn't matter how you layer...it's all good**

Keep going until you get to the top and have used up everything {except of course, for those few pieces of cake and strawberries that you just couldn't help swipe when nobody was looking}

End with the last two layers being Cool Whip and Strawberries on the very top.

Cover with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Take it out, scoop it up and enjoy!!!!

Let us know how you love it and have yourselves a BEAUTIFUL day!!!!

Please Tell Me It's Friday!! :0)

It is Friday..awesome..because I need this week to end like yesterday. LOL!!

We had Kolin's appt. today at Shands..bright and early, and I do mean..bright and early.
BTW..I am in no way a morning person and it was horrible, though the cappachino Karl bought me when we first started out made it slightly more bearable.
But..we got there and everything went smooth as can be.,

They took more x-rays of his popping ankles.
Dr. Bacus saw him, she was terrific and totally impressed by his martial arts skills..even having him demo for her and the other doc's {one of which is into martial arts himself and was way impressed with his signature hook kick}
She tells us that on his x-ray everything looked normal. Her exam went well too.
So..the dx. is that he has air and possibly nitrogen in-between his growth plate and bone, mainly in his left ankle.
As long as it doesn't hurt or swell he'll be OK.

The end conclusion is that we now call him "Rice Krispie" or "Popper".

After stopping off at Sweet Bay in Gainesville, which we've heard great things about {it's a grocery store}, we made it home safe, sound and a little tired.
Well..not Kolin..the kid that never sleeps.
BTW..Sweet Bay is defiently all that and then some.
They have unbelievable meat prices and we totally recommend it.
I mean, where else can you get fresh angus burger meat for $2.00 a pound?

Not much else is going on right now..except that I'm still trying to get this whole yard sale thing together. Talk about madness...yard sales are nuts to get together.
I will be sooo happy when it's over, I really will.
Then..I'll take the earnings and get myself back to Sweet Bay. LOL..love that store.

I'll leave you today with some snapshots of Kolin's b-day from this past Monday.
He isn't much into cake, so he asked for Mama's special stawberry shortcake..his favorite dessert in the world. :0)







Here he was yelling.."No Way..No Way..NO WAY!!!!" as he was tearing the paper off..





Have a great day everyone!!!!!

Fire In The Sky

I love this one, the way it looks like the sky is on fire..



It also looks pretty good on..

View On Black

I can't stay on long tonight, but I'll be back tomorrow after we come back from Shands...Kolin has an appt. for his mysterious "popping" ankles..it's so weird, they "pop" all of the time, but don't hurt. :0/

Kody and I had our magazine interview today and it went GREAT!!
Oct. 1st is the day it will be out.

OK..gotta run and get Kaysha.
We have to leave here at 6:15 AM, so I have got to get some ZZZZZZ"s.

Have an awesome night!!

What Running Out Of Bribery Mountain Dews Looks Like....

I know..I know..it just isn't pretty. :0)

It was a crazy day today...just plain busy from 7 AM till now and it's still not over.

So..serisouly the best I can do is this itty bitty update tonight.

But..I'll be back tomorrow sometime with more news that has pretty much nothing to do with anything really.

Have a great night everyone!!!!

Rock Star Quality

I love a kid that totally get's into what he's doing....





Kolin's b-day went great yesterday and we pulled it off and got him the one thing he's been wanting forever..

The Guitar Hero Aerosmith game with the wireless guitar.

I still have to download the pic's...his face it totally priceless. :0)

Yesterday I had Kolin's conference at his school for the results of his math testing he had at the end of last year.
Turns out that he doesn't have learning disabilities in math like we thought. According to the results, he's just a "hands on" learner and not a "book" learner.
So...though he may take slightly longer to get the end result and his way is not the "norm", he still gets the same end result as everyone else..just in his own way, which they'll work with.

I have Kody's meeting at his school today for his half day hospital homebound and three day a week tutoring.
That should be pretty simple, we did it last year and aside from he'll be staying a little longer this year...everything will be the same.
We hoping after Christmas vacation that he'll be staying for the full day.
But, all depends on.....

1. His shunt and the probability of having a new one placed.
2. Those two suspicous spots found on his latest MRI.
3. His medications and the way they make him so drowsy by mid-day.

Oh....here's the pic's from above without the "Lucis Effect" preset I ran on them..because to be honest here..I love this preset!!!!

I'll show you these incase your completely over seeing everything looking so trippy. :0)





That's about it for the day. :0)

Have a great day everyone!!!

Leesburg Skies

For Karlio..

Because you dragged me away tonight, even though I thought you were crazy, to see some gorgeous skies before they disappeared into the night.

Becuase you dragged me, all my stuff, and my tripod up to the highest hill you could find 90 seconds from our home.

Because you wanted 20 minutes alone with me to enjoy this beauty together.

Just because..these are for you....



View On Black



View On Black

Thank you for taking me tonight.
I love you.

Happy Eleven-Tween Kolin!!

Happy Birthday To You!!!!

*Cha-Cha-Cha*

Happy Birthday To You!!!!

*Cha-Cha-Cha*

Happy Eleven-Tweenth Birthday To Our Super Cool, Funny, Crazy Kid Kolin!!!!

*Cha-Cha-Cha*

Happy Birthday To You!!!!!!!!!!!!





We Love You!!

Mommy
Daddy
KK
Kay
Kyle James
Kaysha
Kody
Adriana
Alona
Meghan
Dexter
Houdini
Korey
Tiki
and
Atreyu

He Leaves Me Speechless

Kody..my middle son.

I could go on and on all night about how he is my beautiful middle son, my love, my reason for living.
I could tell you all about how perfect he is.
He is unique.
He is a gem.

But...we're all about keeping it real here and so I think it's safe to share with you the real deal.
That child leaves me speechless.

Really, honest to blog..I have no words for this one except to say...



He is a strange, strange boy. :0)

Hope your nights a good one!!

Happy Sunday To You!!

The sun is shining, it's drying out, no sign of rain and it's about time to kick the kiddo's outside. :0)

Just wanted to stop by this morning and wish ya'all a great Sunday!!

Today I'm leaving a set of old pic's, newly revised.



Click to View On Black

Hey Friends Hey!!

Fay has gone on her way!!

Right now we have some outer band squalls every so now and again but it's nothing really...we're fine. :0)

Sorry I didn't get to update ya'all this morning...it was a crazy busy day. Kody and Kolin we're helping with black belt testing and afterwards they had a really cool "cane seminar". Who would have thunk it....canes are not just for walking.
Anywhos..they got home around 4;30 or so, hungry and exhausted.
So...we fed them and right away Kody fell asleep. I know Bear, and he won't get up until tomorrow...he was so whooped.
Kolin...well, he's caught his second wind, lucky me. LOL!!

Not much else to tell about, so I'll wish ya'all a relaxing "good-night" and a couple photos of my fave boy kiddo's, just because I thought they were sweet.

Kody and Kolin have always loved Kyle James' skateboard. So, like the awesome brother he is, for their b-days this year, Kyle gave that board to them.



My stunt rider...the kid who makes me grayer by the minute...



Later Gators!!!!

A Message For Miss Jill

It's all yours if you want it {the red and black hat}.
E-mail me girl!! :0)

nikon4kim@gmail.com

LOL..Sorry, I Got Bored

If ya'all thought this picture was funny when I first showed it....



Look at it now..HA!



Sorry Kolin, I really love you man. :0)

I have to go now and do something productive.

Later Gators!!

Stuck Inside Again....

Poor Kolin, I won't let him catch a break during hurricane vacation days...



But, I do pay him good in Mountain Dew's and Slim Jim's..so I guess he'll survive. :0)

Fay is still traveling through Central, FL. at a very...very slow rate. Last night was something like 2 MPH and today she's up to a speedy 6 MPH.
She's a real PIMA.

Other then a ton of branches down and a tree that fell down the street {which, believe this or not was so loud I heard it come down in my bedroom, with the TV going and the rain and wind pounding outside}.
Later on, when the rain finally stops, I'll buckle up and shoot some pic's so ya'all can see for yourself that living in the tropical state does have it's hazards...however not as hazardous as being up north where one inch of our rain equals 12 inches of your snow and that's, ahhhhhh, something I NEVER want to go back to, thank you very much.

That's about all the news I have for this morning, except to say a big "Shout Out Cuz You Guys Really Rock" to City of Leesburg and Comcast, who, both, never went out not once.
Comcast got a little weird {but that's possibly my computer, I really should burn 7000 pictures to CD today} but stayed on.

I'll leave you with this little photo of Alona's last weeks "craft day" where we all sat around outside and made paper plate masks.
The older kids are going to kick my butt for putting this one up. :0)



Well my friends..I'm going to jump off and...

1. Listen to things bounce off our roof.
2. Go ga-ga over my fave photog's new photoshop actions{darn you M.B. you make everything look sooooo good!!}.
3. Make something for dinner in the slow cooker.
4. Work on some super kickin' urban style "newsboy" caps for kids. I already made one..Oh baby, they are C*U*T*E!!!!!
5. Spend time with the lil' Hellians.

Have a beautiful day everyone!!!!!

Go Away Fay!

And don't you come back no more girl!!



On a brighter note..school's been cancelled again tomorrow. The kids are happy about that. :0)

Never Tease A Hurricane

Because they are mean and will come back to bite you where it hurts.

Fay is officially right over us and she is tearing things apart.
The gazebo that we love...gone.
The trampoline the boys love...gone.
The pool...almost gone.
Our palms...coming down quickly.

Damn that mother nature. :0(

Anywho's....because I had not much else to do for a little while this afternoon..I went weird on some old pic's with a cool lumis effect photoshop preset that I found for a 30 day trial.
Call me crazy. :0)







Hopefully we'll still have electricity, so I'll update again in the AM.

Have a great night everyone!!

Rain..Rain...More Rain

This has been the most rainiest night and day so far and our schools are just about the only ones who opened back up today.
All in all, Fay hasn't been that bad but the coast...WHOA...they got hit hard, so we're sending out some prayers for those folks over there who are using boats just to leave whats left of their flooded homes. :0(

I have Bear home today with another morning headache.
So, since we last went to see his neurosurgeon in July {around the 15th I think} he's had 9 pretty painful headaches, 8 of them have been morning ones. Bummer. :0(

Anywho's...I'm off for now {the weather is making the internet connection funky today}, but I'll be back later on {if the internet stop wonkin' out}.

Leaving you with a chuckle this Thursday morning.

This is called "skitching"...



And, it's generally not a good thing to do.



Isn't that right Kaysha?

BTW...the Skitchin' Drama Queen was FINE!! :0)

Have a great day everyone!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADRIANA!!!!

Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to you.....
Happy First Birthday Dear Adri...
Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!!!!



We love you!!!!

Love,
Gramma
Grampa
Aunt Kaysha
Aunt KK
Uncle Kody
Uncle Kolin
Uncle Kyle
Aunt Meghan
Alona
Dexter
Korey
Houdini
Tiki
and
Atreyu

Still Here And Doing Quite Well

Crazy ole' Miss Hurricane Fay seems to be fizzling in Central, FL.

We got some rain, we got some wind but it didn't deter Kaysha in any way, shape or form for making me go out with her so she can spend her paycheck on some kickin' new school clothes.
I love a girl that can battle impending fierce weather for a shopping spree.
BTW...what is it about pink plaid shorts and printed baby tee's that are so dang cute on 17 year olds? I want to be 17 again....I really do.

Today, because I have this silly obsession with doing strange things that make peeps scratch their heads and say "But Why?", decided to throw in some laundry and tidy up our home just in case we did happen to get hit with a tornado and had our dwelling tossed around like raw pizza dough.

Some things in life are unexplainable...I am one of those things.

In trying to come up with something to talk about tonight...I couldn't. Sad, I know.

So..I'll just leave you with a little note to let you all that two days ago I updated "From My Heart To Your Head".
Sorry..I forgot all about telling ya'all that two days ago.
Here's a little something cute for a little someones noggin...



Bright, cheery and so small.
Brings back baby memories I seriously need to get rid of...seriously!

Ah well...we're still on tornado watch so I better grab that bag of tootsie rolls I forced myself to buy today, climb in bed, turn on a good chick flick and wait for the weather radio to go berserk.

Till tomorrow..have a great night everyone!!

Love, Kim

Storm Central And A Few Other Things

It appears Hurricane Fay can't make up her fickle, female mind. So...as of last night we were supposed to take a direct hit by tonight. This morning though..it looks like it's shifted slightly east, leaving us in the storm but more tornado prone.

As of now...we are on tornado watch until at least 4 PM and the rain squalls have already started.

We'll be watching this channel all day...

News Nine

Or this station...they're nice too...

WESH TV

Doppler is cool...

Doppler Keep Clickin' To Reload Updates This Ought To Be Fun By Tonight

Or maybe I'll just play on photoshop all day and forget the weather.
Or..maybe not.

On a happier note..Kody's b-day went great!
He's now an official teenager and even more goofy then ever.



A Hershey cake...that boy is sooooo me. :0)





Next Monday we get to do the party thing all over again for Kolin...who becomes an official eleven-teen on the 25th.

Kody and I went and had those photos done for the magazine he'll be featured in, which comes out on Oct. 1st.
Yes he was a goof, yes he posed his little butt off, yes he was called a natural and yes he was called fun to work with.
I, on the other hand, am sure I got a whole lot of me in the middle of saying "Kody knock it off and smile, Kody did you smile, Kody quit, Kody come on it 's about to rain, KODY STOP IT!!!!!!"
The wind was kicking up bigtime by then and I know that in every snap, I looked like some middle aged version of "Cousin It".
It won't be pretty, trust me it won't. :0)

After the mag. pic's the kids and I ran out to Wally World to pick up some pizzas for dinner and that place was mobbed!!
People going crazy, people panicking, people hogging all the bottled water.
We did get some water though...Kaysha and Kolin took off for that while Kody and I picked up some pizza and Cokes. Kaysha pushed the cart, Kolin was the "Go To Guy" because Kaysha said there was no way in h**l she was going to risk a nail to fight off crazy hurricane people.
I love that girl..she is so me too. :0)

When we came home..Kolin spotted this beauty in the driveway.
My friends..welcome to banana spider season in the sunshine state..



Welps..I better be getting on this morning. The kids have no school today and tomorrow and already they are fixin' to eat me out of house and home.

If, in the event, I'm not on here again for a day or two..that could only mean we've lost electricity and or internet.
I'll be back on as soon as it comes back on.

Have a great day!!!!

Love, Kim

Watch Out World...

We have a new teenager in the house!

Happy 13th Bear!!









Have a great day everyone!!!

Love, Kim

PS. Sheila..I'm working on getting those memory pic's up. I'm not sure if it'll be today...but I'll get 'er done..for sure!! :0)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEAR!!!!!

Happy 13th Birthday Kody Bear!!!!!!!!!!!

We hope you have an awesome b-day and a really great first day of 7th grade. :0)

Love..

Mom
Dad
Kaysha
Kolin
Kyle
KK
Kay
Alona
Adri
Meghan
Tiki
Atreyu
Korey
Houdini

***********************************

Update later on...we've got a crazy day preparing for hurricane Fay..UGH!!

Go Gators!

In honor of Kolin's first Shands appt. on Tuesday {ped's orthopedics's for his popping ankles}, which we have to cancel due to Hurricane Fay coming our way, a little blue and orange for ya'all...



Kody's big 13 is tomorrow, so hopefully I'll be able to grant Miss Sheila's wishes and scan some old photos of him in here so we can all take a stroll down memory lane together. :0)
Tomorrow he'll be having his magazine pic's taken {him and I} at 4 o'clock.

It's also the kiddo's first day of school tomorrow and, no, I haven't completed the supply shopping lists {they are soooooo long this year}.
I tried to finish up this morning...but not yet.

Welp...have a very happy Sunday everyone!!
I have got to get some teeny tiny baby hats up on the hat site today, so let me get off of here and get that done.

Love, Kim

A Day In The Life Of Alona

Being six years old...oh Lordie, I remember those years with my girls. <3
Now my kids, kids are bringing back memories of...





Silly dress up outfits and lots of red lipstick...applied by herself. :0)

Have yourself a silly, red lipstick kind of day everyone!!
Well..not if your a guy, K? :0)

Love, Kim

The Kids Last Wekend Before School

And they are sooooooo not thrilled.

OK..let me rephrase that..
Kaysha can't wait to get back to Leesburg "social time" High, but the boys have the glazed over, zombie, this can't be happening all ready look written all over them. :0)

Since Kody's b-day is Monday and Kolin's is the following Monday and Kyle James is busy with two jobs, he decided to take a little while this afternoon and treat Kody and Kolin to a couple of hours on the golf range.
So, K&K are patiently {HA!} waiting as I type this for their big brother to show up and get them outta here for a while before we get hit with another rain storm, which is supposed to be right upon us this afternoon. Bleech!

While they're gone, I've got to dash off to the yarn store quickly, which just so happens to be conveniently located a few miles from Target which just so happily has a Starbucks right there in the entrance way.
Yay Me!!!!!!!!

Looks like I've got a line of kiddo's looking over my shoulder right about now, waiting for their computer time..so I'll leave you with this, taken yesterday....



And, ummm..his Dad looked over my shoulder a few minutes ago and when he saw it said "Isn't that the truth". :0)

Have a beautiful day everyone!!!!

Love, Kim

It's Friday....COOL!!!!

This has been about the rainiest week in forever....which has lead to bored, cranky and kind of obnoxious kids.

Today Miss Thang, Alona is here teaching us a thing or two about redish-pink lipstick, glitter, dress up, Candyland and paper plate masks.

Since we're about to get hit with storms at any time...no swimming..again. :0(

Kody ended up with another achey headache last night but when I went in to give him his morning med's..he said he felt better. Thank goodness for that.

Anywho's...not much to report.

Oh..Kolin had his meet the teacher night, last night.
He's in the new addition of the elementary school, so it nice, bright, open, clean and made of solid brick..which is safe, especially during hurricane/tornado season.
{Kody spent his last 3 elementary school years in the same building}

I have to tell you the funniest thing.

OK, so last night the elementary school was buzzin' with kids and parents.
Last night I finally noticed the difference between boys and girls.

Every single girl was dressed up to the "t", all cute with their little sundresses on, ponytails, big smiles, painted fingernails, carrying cute little sparkly pencils..soooo happy to be there.

Every boy {mine included} walked behind their Mom's and Dad's like they were doing the death march.
Sad, uninterested, bummed, bored and trying to figure out why in the world those girls thought this place called "school" was like the next Disney Land. :0)

I have to tell ya'all..this little girl here met her teacher last night too {though in a different school} and this morning she was all about telling me how nice her teacher is, how much she loves school and all about the sparkly blue pencil her new first grade teacher gave her. :0)



Welps..I better get to going..Candyland is callin'. :0)

Have a beautiful day everyone!!

Love, Kim

Bear's Update...

Thank you so much for all the well wishes and prayers.

Though he's not quite himself today and still having those weird personality changes with another morning headache...he made it into school and judging by his teachers {he gets Mrs. Jones again..YAY!!!} and the amount of kids that "high fived" him...he's going to have a great year.
He'll still be on half day hospital homebound with three, one hour, early morning sessions of one on one tutoring with Mrs. Jones.

I talked to neuro. this morning and we'll be increasing his Strettera in hopes of defeating the tics.

I've got to run so I can't stay on today so I'll leave you with the kid who made my night by talking care of his big brother, which gave me the warm fuzzies bigtime. :0)

Nikon Boy..a kid after my own heart. LOL!!



Have a great day everyone!!!

Love, Kim