29 Again

So, yesterday I turned 29 {again} and it was great.
The boys made me some purple and black cupcakes that were totally awesome.
Karlio made me a cherry pie cuz I am just not a traditional b-day cake kind of gal.
They got me this big ole' bag of Halloween stuff and my three nautical stars I have been wanting for my bedroom forever. There is a story that goes with that, but I'll tell you all about that at another time.

All I really wanted from the boys was a nice photo of them together that I could get printed big....but, that never really happened. They tried their best but the sun direction was not in our favor. So, we'll try again today but we'll wait until almost 7 o'clock or so when the sunshine isn't so harsh.

Out of 20 taken, this is the only one I kept and of all things, it was just one of those "test shots". I like it pretty good though. :0)



Things around here are starting to really pop up Halloween. Call me crazy but IMO it is never too early to start decorating for my favorite holiday. LOL!

Here's a snap of the beginnings of a cemetery we have going on in the front yard.
Yeppers, that's real fire. :0)



Kolin's bedroom window and a view from the front yard facing the street...



My Scare-Crow {I wish I would have closed the garage door}...



And the front yard so far but there will be a lot more by the time we're done...



That's about it for today cuz I am on my way to Starbucks who so sweetly sent me a postcard in the mail for a free whatever I want.
Heck yes, it is "Pumpkin Spice Latte" time of the year!!

Have an awesome day all!!

No Title Tuesday

"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you."



Sorry, just feeling extremely unmotivated this week. I'm hoping to find my mojo again her real soon. :0)

Have a great day everyone!!

Dreams

"I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each others dreams, we can be together all the time..."



Have a beautiful day everyone. :0)

Firsts

"I'll always remember...I'll never forget, how you took my breath away, the first time we met. No matter what happens... no matter what we do, I'll always remember the first time I saw you." by Zenki

The Runner

Anything Kody chooses to do, he gives it 200%.

"No Fear", "Perseverance", "Failure Is Not An Option" and "Never Back Down" are just a few of the motivational quotes he lives his life by.
Though I know he said it as an almost 7 year old, my favorite will always be "Life's Tough...But I'm Tougher".
That was a quote heard around the world and I know many, OK thousands of people including myself, wore that short saying, said by a cute 7 year old chubby cheeked kid, stamped in a blue bracelet, on their wrist.

Since Kody joined Cross Country, he and Kolin practice early every morning, running five miles before school even starts.
Every night after dinner, Kody takes that a step further and runs up and down our street and two hilly side streets over and over {OK, this is Florida, everybody else would call our "hill" an "incline" LOL!}. Practice makes perfect. Practice makes our Bear even stronger.

While at the same time I may be just walking, I still watch him carefully {just in case, it's a Mom thing} and I am always, always amazed at how far along in his life journey he has come.

In a strange kind of way, when I watch him, I am reminded of the movie "Forest Gump". Remember when he has the leg braces on as a child and he was running from the bike chasing bullies? Remember how with every step, his legs grew stronger and soon enough the braces came falling off and he kept running...never stopping, getting stronger and stronger.
To me that is a reflection on the start of Kody's war against pediatric brain cancer 7 1/2 years ago.
Yes, an extremely rare brain tumor called a "brainstem microglioma" tried to bully him, it tried to beat him down, it tried to paralyze him, it tried to end his life on Earth.
But, you know...with every sucker punch cancer threw at him, he blocked it. With every hurdle, no matter how high placed in front of him, he jumped it. With every challenge came hard work, determination, sweat, tears {mine, not his} and Kody's ultimate success.

A couple of nights ago I followed him on his nightly run. As he stood at the top of that hill {incline, hehe}, he took a short breather before taking off again and looked right at me.
At that very moment I realized that while my son would never grow up to be another Einstein, Picasso, Pavarotti or Mozart, Kody is and always will be the most bravest, heroic and determined person in my life.
My Bear is definitely taking shape and becoming a truly awesome young man.

I know I've said it before and I will not only say it again today but I will tell him everyday for the rest of my life, I absolutely love this child with all my heart.



Take care everyone and have a beautiful day. :0)

Paper Lanterns

Speaking of obsessions, we have been speaking of obsessions this past week or two, right?
Shoes...purple...Lysol Wipies...oh yes, we have for sure.
Anyway here is my latest and greatest, paper lanterns..



I want these things everywhere, in my bedroom, in the living room, everywhere. I want them as props too...OMG, I LOVE them!

And I tend to spend a lot of time on these sites making imaginary wish lists...

All Things Lanterns

Parasols too.

Oh baby you are scrumptious!!

Who knew paper could be so fun? :0)

Hey, know what else is fun?
Nails, pretty Frenchie nails are lots of fun and with that let me let you in on my little "French Manicure" secret.

No, I did not pay a fortune for mine.
No, I didn't have to sit in a salon and wait my turn.
Mine cost about $6.00, I bought them at Wal-Mart and it took me about 10 minutes or less to put them on.
Here you go lady friends...

KISS

Mine are medium length.
Oh..Oh..Oh...they also make them for toes. I'm trying these this weekend. WOO-HOO!!

They say they last a week but mine are still securely on, I figure it'll last two weeks cuz the glue is really strong. I do a ton of housework as well {OCD at it's best} and they haven't even loosened. Plus, there are enough nails in there for two sets. If you figure that at $3.00 per "manicure", I got to say..that's a bargain baby.

Well my friends, that's about all I got's to say today. Or this morning anyway cuz ya'all know I have problems shutting up sometimes. This week Kolin complained about my "back to school absence note" being too long. Actually his exact words were "Wrote another novel I see".
Goober Times Two.

Have a great day everyone!!

For The Love Of Purple

It's an obsession, I know. :0)



I get to pick the boys up early today. No after school cross country practice for them. I wasn't able to get their physicals scheduled on time and I just found out this morning that we have to purchase school insurance anyway so it looks like today's first meet is out.
Total bummer. :0(

The flu is starting to rear it's ugly head around our schools. The boys are pretty trained to use "Germ-X" or "Purell" probably because of all those hospital trips these past 7 years, it just becomes natural, you know?
Everything at home gets the Lysol wipe down every day, a couple times a day. If you can touch it, it gets sanitized. I am kind of, sort of, a little bit, OCD. There I admit it.
Anyway, I seriously hope they don't end up sick with the flu cuz that would not rock my little world here.

Not much else new, another day in the life I guess.

So, with that, I won't bore you anymore. I'll just wish you all a wonderful sunshiny day. I'd like to add warm to that but from what I hear, warm is not loving some of you out there lately. YUCK!

Kody "Bear" Jacob

I got to pondering yesterday while the two boys were home feeling like a truck ran over them and while I was kind of feeling like that same truck put itself into reverse and ran my butt over too, that our "Little Bear" is going to be in High school next year?

Wasn't this kid just in the first grade, learning how to print that incredibly way too long last name?
I remember with all the kids, while the other kids in the class would have to print their name 20 times, mine would only have to do 10. LOL, that used to seriously crack me up.

Anyway, I put together this little collage because a couple of weeks ago he wanted some updated MySpace pic's and because I was happy to oblige.



The boys are back in school today. Although Kolin wasn't 100%, he knows he already has a ton of makeup work to do.
Middle school isn't elementary school, that's for sure.

Not too much going on around here this morning but I do have some hat stuff that I seriously have to complete and mail.
Ruth...they are coming, I promise!!

Have a great day everyone!!

R To The L

Red Lobster endless shrimp dinner, now that is my kind of date. :0)



I won't be staying on long this morning cuz I have got the two boys home.
Kody...headache & barfy
Kolin...headache and maybe a sinus infection.

And so the school year begins. :0(

Have a really great day everyone..Happy Monday!

These Two Are....

the only hell this Mama's ever raised. :0)



LOL, I do love them though.

Our date went great last night. I'll let ya'all know later where we ended up. Gawd, we were beyond stuffed when we walked out of there but not stuffed enough to walk around Target for an hour or so?
Am I the only one who loves looking through the men's t-shirt dept.? The vintage ones, the the skull ones, the rock & roll ones, the crazy saying ones? I swear, love them all.

Hope everyone has an awesome day today.

TTYL!!

Stiletto's

Rumor has it, I have an awful shoe obsession.
Ya think? LOL!



The boys are leaving this afternoon for a sleep over b-day party and won't be back till tomorrow afternoon.
What in the world will I do without the little Goobers?

Hope everyone out there has an incredibly marvelous day today!

Peace

Good Morning!

LOL....yes it is early again.
But, it's all good because today is Friday, which means it is errand running day and that's the kind of stuff you want to get done and over with fast.

Friday also means cappuccino date morning, so I'll have to jump off of here if I don't want to miss out on that ride to our local cappuccino shop a/k/a Shell/The Circle K. :0)



Wishing you all a wonderful day today.

Peace Out!!

Eyes

It's only a little after 8 in the morning, holy crow, why am I up? Oh yeah...I have kids. Duh.

This will just be a quickie post this morning, it's just too darn early to have anything to say.
Later on when I am caffeinated to the max...I'll be back. LOL, just thought I'd warn ya.

Have a great day everyone...the weekend is almost here, WOO-HOO!!!!

Pretzels

They used to do this with boxes when we were moving...



Now they'll stack just about anything.
I think that perhaps it's time to add the "Jenga" game to the Christmas list. They've only been bugging me for it for, oh I don't know..a couple years maybe?
I am thinking this is another subtle hint made yesterday, by my two boys with some after school snacks. :0)

Hope everyone has a wonderful day today.

As for me...I have got to finish wrapping up some hats. I'm not sure why, but the peepers just are not cooperating these past couple of weeks. Bummer for me. :0(

TTYL!!!

Too Early Tuesday

Now that the boys have joined "Cross Country" at their middle school, it means that our mornings here start a whole lot earlier 4 days a week and one afternoon a week gets longer. Another words, they practice running 5 times a week.
Practice running? Man that sounds crazy...those two have been professional runners since they were about 10 maybe 11 months old.
K&K never started walking, they went directly from sitting to full speed running.

But....since they are hell bent on perfecting their love of running, it means we wake up around here when the first number on the clock is "6", I wake them, feed them and eyeball them to make sure their clothes match.
Karlio drives them, travel coffee cup in hand. {me? drive? at 7:30 am? ROTFLMAO!!!!! Um, no}
We are not morning people and it's only day two and it's 8:30 in the morning and we are already well into our second full pot of coffee.
We pass each other looking all zombie eyed, smile once in a while, fill each other coffee mugs and silently sit at the table thinking "this is insane".
Then I ponder and ponder some more and realize, my two hell raisers are outside running. Running? Dang I wish I could bottle up some of their energy and use it for myself. :0)

Anyway...we'll keep doing it cuz that's what parents do.
How could we say "no" to this miracle kid {and his trusty sidekick, Wild Man, of course} who back in early October, 2004, after a 10 hour brain surgery and 5 days in a coma, spent his days in a wheelchair learning how to walk all over again?



We don't. :0)

Have an awesome day everyone!!

Tuesday Is The New Monday

This morning I was looking for something in my purse. Scary thought, I know.
That's when I realized "Dang I have a lot of gift cards and have no idea f there is anything on them."
Seriously, I have Red Lobster gift cards from 4 years ago, which just proves that the rumors are true, I don't get out much and I am the most boring person on Earth.
So, I then decided, "Well heck maybe I'll call those 800 numbers and see if there is anything on them".

Wal-Mart...Nada, zippo, nothing. No surprise there.
Burger King...$4.65. Hmmm, not too shabby.
Cold Stone Creamery....$15.00. Now we're talking.
Four assorted Starbucks cards....$23.00 and some change. Heck Yeah baby, you'll know where to find me tomorrow!
Ruby Tuesday's....$25.00. What? No way! Amen to the best burgers in town!!
Two Red Lobster cards...$50.00 combined. GO BABY...HAPPY..HAPPY..HAPPY DANCE!!!!!!!

Since today is Monday and my boys left for school bright and very early this morning in order to practice for their newest sport, Cross Country Track and since Karlio has Monday's off, well..what could be more better then a lunch date?
Can I hear an "Oh Yeah Baby!"?

So...we pondered a bit, checked out the lunch menu's on-line, pondered some more {can you tell we really, really never eat out?} and we decided that RT's was the place to be today.

So, we called in, got ourselves all ready to roll, grabbed two waters, jumped in the "Green Machine" and then picked up our to go sack, headed out to our local park/lake and we ate till we darn near burst and even then, we still couldn't finish. LOL!

It was truly, a great date. :0)



Here's to wishing you all a day as good as the one I had today...without the overstuffed bloating. :0)

Bike Ridin'

Wild Man's favorite stress reliever pastime...



I swear that crazy boy of mine can make that little gold bike scream for mercy. Hehe...

It's an on and off again rainy day today so we are thinking about heading out and checking out that Playstation 3 thing. Christmas will be here before we know it and we are looking for ideas for the Hell Raisers.

I suggested a drum set as well....LOL...we'll see. :0)

Tranquility And Rainy Days

I wish I could say rainy days like today around here are spent in a quiet kind of way, but when you have two wild and crazy boys, the truth is...it gets loud, really, really wall shaking loud.

So, in order to curb their energy a little I think I will head out with them sometime this afternoon for a couple hours and see whats new in our mall's Halloween store.
The cool thing is we only live 5 minutes away from three of my favorite places...the Mall, Target and Starbucks.
The sad thing is I am 25 minutes away from my newest addiction....Bed, Bath and Beyond. Seriously not cool at all. :0(
This is the department I could live in...

IF I GO MISSING FOR A WEEK YOU'LL FIND ME HERE.

Ohhhh, I think I am about to hyperventilate, where have you been my whole life?!

Everyone needs one of these, especially me.

In my little world, it is definitely "Hip To Be Square" and being red is hip too.

OMG...I..Have...To..Have...These!

Perfect for the day after I feed my boys beans.

HA...HA..HA...just kidding. Hehe

OK, this ones more me. :0)

I think I love you.

Oh heck yeah, I'm awake now.

Well, thanks for shopping with me...the cyberistic {spell check insists that is not a word, sorry but I say otherwise} imagination is a great thing.

So, while it continues to rain here and while my boys are blasting Metallica "Master of Puppets" in the next room and while I dream of peace, cappuccinos and tranquility and while I know that will never happen, it so seems that on this particular rainy day, I better get myself ready for a window shopping mall trip.

I'll leave you with this...



to remember what I will not be having today. :0)

Have a wonderful day everyone!

PS. BTW, no Kody's hair isn't blue. He was sitting too close to the pool and caught the reflection of the pool walls. :0)

Hopper

This thing, I swear to you, lurks outside and terrorizes me every day. It must know I have this fear of things that jump at you.



So, there he was again yesterday morning as I hung our clothes out on the line to dry for a couple of hours.
Yes, I am one of those crazy peep's who loves, loves, LOVES the way clothes smell after being washed in Gain with Fabreeze Hawaiian Aloha and left out in the sun to dry.
Plus, I refuse to waste electricity when nature will do just fine.
Anyway, there he was again yesterday watching me take the stuff down.
He just kept eyeballin' me so I figure if he thinks he's all that then I should grab the camera and make him work it.
He did...that Goober kept posing, in fact he was more patient with me then the Goobers I live with.

Moral of this story...
As long as he doesn't jump at me, we'll be just fine together. :0)

Hope your day is a good one!!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like....

Autumn and Halloween and everything orange and fun. :0)



All of you who have known me a while knows that Halloween is my favorite holiday of them all. I know, it's not technically a "holiday" but it is to me.
Orange and black and purple and spooky and crazy and wild...yea, that's me alright.

This is the time of year I crave being let loose in a store with unlimited funds, shop till I drop and go on an insane rampage decorating and designing the coolest/spookiest/funnest house on the block.
LOL..well, that is a dream anyway. Reality tells me that my boys are outgrowing everything they own again and the grocery supply is in need of restocking...again. :0(
Last night I made two Italian style meatloaves, stuffed in the middle with ricotta cheese.
They were good sized loaves, made in large bread loaf pans.
No exaggeration...those two boys put away exactly one and a half loaves between them, plus all the sides I made to go with it.
And...they don't gain a stinkin' ounce of chub, ever.

Oh well, I guess it's time to hit up the garage attic and see what I can bring down from Halloween's past.
Maybe...just maybe I can sneak in a new thing or two over the next month or so. ;0)

Have a great day everyone!!

Moon Over Leesburg, Florida

Last night as I was all settled down and rather comfortable watching the Jon Gosslin interview, Karlio comes walkin' on in from work about 10:15 or so and says "Get up...you have GOT to see the moon tonight".
And so there I am thinking a/k/a saying out loud, "Dude, I swear this better be good".
And just like that, I got in the car and we drove out about 20 seconds up the road to catch a view.

I'll give him credit..it was a sweet moon last night. :0)



Look at that orange glow, the shadows, the craters, the so cool fact that we live on a hill that has the most sweetest, unlit by street lights view of the sky.
Hmmm....I could really get used to this.

Anyway, for those starting out and thinking I must have had a tripod set up and an expensive kick butt lens, let me let you in on a little secret.
I had neither.
Truth be told, I never even left the car..just rolled down the window and snapped off 4 quick pictures.

Basically, this is what you do.
Set your camera on "Manual" {mine never, ever leaves manual settings. Repeat after me, "I control my camera, my camera does not control me".
Set your camera on or about ISO 200 - 400
F Stop anywhere from 5.6 to 8 is good.
Now point that camera up to the moon and meter off the light coming from the moon and underexpose that middle point by 2 stops. {On Nikon's this will mean turning that dial 2 clicks to the right}
Make sure your shutter speed isn't too low. If it is and you shake like me, up your ISO and/or shoot with a more wide open F Stop. I am pretty positive my SS was set at 80.
Lean on something like your car door {that's what I did} and shoot.

That's it...no fancy equipment and not pricey lens. Actually, this is the zoom lens I used. I bought it used a few years ago and paid about $80.00 for it.
Nikkor AF 70-300 4-5.6mm
I love that lens for anything nature that doesn't move a whole lot.

Now, I have no idea what the moon will look like tonight, but if it happens to be a purty one...take a chance, get out there and shoot it. You never know when you'll get that keeper. :0)

Have a wonderful day everyone!!

Golden Hair Summer Sunshine

"Long hair is considered bohemian, which may be why
I grew it, but I keep it long because I love the way it feels,
part cloak, part fan, part mane, part security blanket."
-Sir Arthur Wing Pinero



When you live in the land of sunshine and your blessed with golden locks, and your Mom is a photographer who loves long hair and your Dad has gorgeous, sexy long hair, and your respectful and kind, smart and funny and you have bright green eyes that everyone falls for, it's pretty much a given that when you ask your parents if you can grow your hair long...they will say "absolutely".

That's Kolin, my youngest...the last of the litter.
There are not enough words in the dictionary to describe how much I love that kid.
His laugh, his artistic-ness, his love of life, his innocence, his goofiness and mostly...the way his tousled hair always smells like Aussie Moist shampoo which I swear has to be the best scented shampoo in the world.

I even find it kind of amusing to watch girls circle around him and just have to feel the need to touch his hair.
He told me once that "some girl" asked him what shampoo he uses. His first reaction he told me was "who cares, it's just shampoo" but what he told her was "Some stuff in a purple bottle".
Guess that probably sums up his whole attitude on hair care products. LOL!

Yeppers..living in the sunshine state means you'll want to wear summer clothes nine months out of the year and if you have me for your Mama, it definitely means your hair will be long and smelling like a pina colada. :0)



And because this quote just cracks me up every time I have to add it as well.

"Interviewer: 'So Frank, you have long hair. Does that make you a woman?'
Frank Zappa: 'You have a wooden leg. Does that make you a table?'"
— Frank Zappa

How very true. :0)

Have a great day everyone!!

Baby You've Been "Punked"

The Mohawk is here...details on From My Heart To Your Head. :0)



Hope everyone had a great labor Day.
We had a busy day, which explains my lack up updates.
We went to a huge picnic this afternoon with lots of friends and bbq dinner at home afterwards, although we were still soooo dang full from the picnic. We managed, we always do. LOL!

Back to our week tomorrow..school, work, waking up early....BLEECH! Wish everyday was a holiday.

Have a wonderful night everyone. :0)