Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree ...

Once again it seems like ForEver since I've updated, sorry.
I really thought that I would have had time to update last week (especially since we Didn't go to school for THREE days due to ice storms!) but it was Very busy, busy, busy around here.
Devan & I made it to Jackson last Sunday for our "annual holiday shopping trip" & this year we even managed to "drag" Jim along for the trip. ;-)
We didn't have much to finish up mainly my nephew Logan (his list came from American Eagle- so it had to come from a bigger town) & some "filler" things.
One of the things on my list was new ornaments for this year...
I've always gotten Devan a new ornament every year (this will be his to take with him when he leaves home).
About 3 years ago I realized that when he Does leave he will be taking quite a bit of the ornaments with him. At that point I started a New tradition of Everyone picking out a New ornament (no theme trees here, they are Beautiful but I prefer more of a "traditional" mosh posh of ornaments) .
I thought I would take a few minutes to share a pic of our tree with you this year & pics of our new ornaments ...



Our tree! I personally had The hardest time picking an ornament this year, usually there are several that "speak" to me but this year it was Not so.
We had been to Macy's & Every other store in The mall & I was empty handed.
After we had dinner at Red Robin (this was Jim's first time & I think he enjoyed it!) we headed over to Kohls to look for ornaments, nutcrackers (we may not get nutcrackers this year-haven't found any yet that "talk" to us) , a new Christmas frame (for the pic that I "knew" we would would be taking with "Santa" at the "Lights of the Delta") stocking stuffers & little "go with" gifts.
When I went to the ornaments & looked once again I didn't see Anything that "spoke" to me. When the guys caught up to me & we started looking at the other decorations I finally saw something that made me go "hmmm". When I started looking around that display I finially saw one that made my heart kind of smile :o) ...


this is the guy that I hesitantly picked up thinking "could this be the one???" . I looked all around & he was the only one left & he was perfect - no breaks or cracks. :o) The more I looked at him the More I fell in Love with him! He's sooo vintage-y (hmmm I'm sure that's not a REAL word, lol) looking, he has bling glitter & even has flocking around his mittens- did I mention that he was on sale too ??? Yep, he cost me all of $2.64 & he Couldn't make me Happier he IS "my" perfect ornament this year! :o)


This was Jim's addition for this year (he found him at Macy's) . Another vintag-y looking one. He's pretty Cute I think, he reminds me of those little milk carton/Santa ornaments we used to make in Kindergarten (do you remember those?) .


Last but not least here is Devan's ornament for this year (he also found his at Kohls) . It has become a Huge part of our Christmas Day to watch "A Christmas Story" at Least THREE times! lol. I guess it was pretty easy for him when he saw this one & when he realized that the door opens, that it lights up, & plays scenes from the movie it was a Sure thing! ;-)
I guess that's it for now, hopefully I'll be able to post a little something tomorrow.
See-Ya!

sneaky ... who ME ???

hmmm, I guess I could resemble that remark, lol.
Last night the choir concert was held at the High School & being that Devan is in choir this year we were there, along with HALF of the town! No kidding I could not believe how Crowded it was! I pulled into the parking lot at 7 thinking that I was plenty early enough
( concert was to begin at 7:30) only to find that I had to park ALL the way in the BACK!!!
I was sure that there Must be a basketball game going on till I entered the theatre! OMG!
You would Not believe the amount of people!
Turns out they were doing ALL the choirs!
Yep! You heard right ALL 6th-12th!
So I guess pretty much EVERY parent in town was there! LOL!
The advanced choir (Devan's) was the last to perform on their own ...


truth is we didn't even Recognize HIM! Do you? It honestly took me a few minutes to find him, still not used to the dark hair (will be glad when it's gone). He's on the back row - last guy on the right! Yep, that HIM! Right now his hair is about the color Jim's was when we were dating, lol.
(They've had a LOT of fun with it at school, they check it daily to see what colors are showing through. Someone told him yesterday that it had some pink- I personally didn't see it but it could be, lol.)


When Devan's choir had finished singing they brought ALL the choirs Back in for a couple of songs.
They didn't put the kids on the stage (not sure why, it sure would have been a lot cooler in there if they had) they placed them ALL around the room about 3-4 deep! You literally felt the temperature in the room increase as they came in & took their position!
Mr. Patterson & Mr. Coffman were stationed in the isles - directing.
It really was quite nice being surrounded by the music that way. :o)
They had made a announcement before the concert started that they wanted ALL choirs to stay after the performance for a group photo ...
can you guess where my mind was going ??? lol
At the end of the performance my mind went into over-drive & my light bulb went off, lol.
The BEST place to get that photo would be ...
up on the CAT-WALK!!! ;-)
Jim was like "I bet it's locked" , when it became apparent that I was going to try it he told me to be careful & not break my neck on the staircase & promptly left (some night in shinning armor, what's up with that ? he could have been my "partner in crime"!).
As soon as I could get through the crowd I went to the door in the hall & tried the door & ...
I SCORED! It was unlocked! Wahoo!
Sooo I climbed the spiral staircase (first time I've been up there) & while I was going up I was thinking things through ...
*be sure you turn off the flash- if they see the flash they'll know you're up there, make sure you're positioned where they can't see you*
(I was sure that they would be upset with Me helping myself to the cat-walk.)
Once I got up there I was trying to find my position & Mr. Coffman was talking to the kids
"Who said their mom could do this? Someone said their mom had a big camera & could do this who was it?".
I'm standing there frozen thinking *did Devan say I would do this? he would think that my camera is big- he wouldn't know the difference*.
THEN Mr. Coffman starts asking "Do we have Someone up on the cat-walk who can do this for us? Is there Anyone up there for us?".
Now my mind is going *are you kidding me? they want someone up here & they don't sound like they care who, guess it's time to come clean* .
Sooo ... that's when I stepped foward & waved to let them know that I was up there, lol.
At that point I became THE photographer! :o)
I hope they weren't expecting too much. I'm still very much a newbie, still keep it on auto, & I've never been on a cat-walk & have NO idea about what kind of settings you would use for that (some day I really have to make time to "study" more about the camera & setting but I honestly just haven't had the time). But honestly it's not like they had approached someone personally ahead of time & set this up so I guess they get what they get, the shot is definately not perfect but I had to deal with the lights & like I said not sure about settings & I was sooo Nervous when they knew I was up there & now they seem to be relying on ME for the shot!!!



Anyway here is my fave. Not sure what the deal with the "ghost/glare" of the light at the corners is??? I guess maybe something to do with the lights right beside me?? Not sure but they have several to choose from, maybe they'll like one of them. ;-)

p.s. things have been sooo busy crazy around here between work (this is the first day off I've had in a week and a half & I'm scheduled for tomorrow) the play (has completely controlled our life for a week & a half) and now the concert. I am spending the day nice & warm in my flannel pajamas! :o)
Going to get as much done a possible ... or maybe not, lol, just depends.
At any rate I plan on thoroughly enjoying my FIRST pajama day in ELEVEN days !!! ;-)

a transformation in the process...

I feel like I've been neglecting you but it hasn't been intentional, things are just crazier than you can imagine around here.
When we got home on Thanksgiving I set to "staining" Devan's hair for the play that starts tonight (Thursday). I didn't really want him to have Black hair in the Christmas pics so I decided to go with a temporary stain.



So this is just before we begin...




the first application of the stain & I have to tell you it smells like ...
Grape Kool-Aid!!! You know the little packets from when we were kids that you had to add your own sugar to. It's really wierd how strong it is & it last a couple of days, lol.



getting a little deeper into the process ...



finally done! I have to tell you that the next morning when I went to get him up I kinda Freaked Out! lol. Only thing about this stain is ...
it was Supposed to last for 3-4 weeks (that's why we did it on Thanksgiving-trying to give it time to fade before Christmas celebrations) , but ...
well it Imediately started fading. A little on Friday, a little more on Saturday, & then ...
a Whole Lot More on Sunday! It was actually quite noticable in the sunlight. Oh & did I mention that on Sunday Green streaks had become visible??? LMBO! Yep! He was afraid that he would get in trouble at school for having green hair- I told him that if Someone had a problem with his hair that they needed to call Chris is the drama dept. it was Her idea to have us color his hair.
By Monday it was even More blond. I t kind of upset him cause his character is supposed to have jet Black hair.
We had about 1/2 a bottle of the stain left so I made arrangements to get him checked out about 10 minutes early yesterday & to drop my kids off with the class next to mine about 10 minutes early yesterday so I could rush home, restain his hair, & send him back to the school by 5 (with dinner) in time for the last dress rehearsal! And I made it !!! whew! :o)
This week has been like that All week. I had a 4th grade class on M,T,W - they thought the teacher had chicken-pox. (this is pretty much the class from he... well you get the idea) Tuesday after dealing with them all day I was up at the school providing back stage food, then ran to the project graduation meeting (ugh, just about as usuless as usual) , then back to rehersal to photograph their first dress rehearsal. (you know they only have one more play after this one so I'm even More sentimental than usual) Once that was over I discovered that I Had to get gas Before coming home so it was almost 10 before I got home. Then I had to wait up for Dev to get home long story short I didn't get to bed till 11:30! Up at 5:20 & bed at 11:30 I am too Old for this crap!
So yesterday they cancelled today on me & I did a little happy dance I have to admit (I was More tired than you can imagine), so today I was playing catch (had just started writing this blog) & decided to go get in the tub & noticed the answering machine flashing. My heart sank & I played it...
it was Mrs. Newbill our principal, she had called at 6:11 this am & No one had heard the phone! I felt horrible & called the school to make sure they had covered the library (that's where they had wanted me) & to appolagize for not hearing the phone & Liz immediatley asked if I would do ISS (in school suspension) tomorrow, ugh - I hate it but it's hard not to do it for Jennie & I need the money to help pay for Dev's trip. The bad thing is I already know that I will be starting the day with 7 kids! The good thing is I get to bring a book so I can do some serious reading (I broke down & bought Twilight!). Then she asked if I would come in today, they had a teacher sick & "she has a student teacher so you don't have to do anything" . Oh yeah, joy! Have I ever told you that I HATE being with a student teacher!!! I am too much of a control freak! I can't handle it when they let the kids walk all over them! Then she tells me it's on the 5th grade hall!!! Ummm... I don't DO 5th grade! and she knows this sooo she must be pretty desperate & I have begged for all the work I can get sooo ...
Yes, I went in. But you know it wasn't as bad as usual, she's kinda strict like me so I wasn't ripping my hair out, lol.
So I have run all day & now it's time for me to head out to the opening night performance of "Hard Luck".
Thought I would share a few of the pics I took at the dress rehersal ...



this is Jeffrey Dycus, he plays this nerdy guy & he's putting the moves on Sanibell -Dev's secretary who's in love with Dev



Dev as Graven Slade - a sleazy con-artist & Sanibell Wilson as Lotta



Pretty much the entire cast, I happened to be there when they were posing for the reporter from the paper! :o)
Well folks gotta run or I won't get there in time for the Best seats in the house (cause I Need more pics ya know, lol). I'll try to check in again soon.
See Ya :o)
UPDATE!
We just got back from the play & everyone there seemed to have really enjoyed it! I really was a wimp of a mom of a senior, I wasn't able to say anything to anyone 'cause I was afraid that I would start bawling... I guess we haven't seen the last of the senior year "mommy melt downs" yet. lol. He really did a good job tonight & I couldn't be more proud!!! :o)

alone & multi-tasking ...

well all my guys are gone...
Jim is at Steve's cabin hunting ( don't know if he'll be home tonight or tomorrow) ,
Devan & Zach are gone to drama meetings (techie & wrap up crew) today, they'll probably be out till about 2 am.
Sooo it's just me today, trying to play catch up.
Yesterday we did get the main tree up before I was abandoned (Jim left for Steve's & Zach came over), but there is still much to do...
The small tree in the kitchen, the silver tree in the dining room (they didn't even get the ornaments out for this tree) & putting the nutcrackers out EVERYwhere! I also wanted to
hang the ornaments in the bay window this year, hmmm don't remember those being brought in yesterday.
So that's the decorating part (I'm down sizing this year), I still have laundry, cleaning, the quilt (I am sooo determined with this), editing, converting, & uploading pics! Whew!
So much to do, One person to do it...
I am not the busy bee worker type who enjoys doing lots of things by herself so how do I handle a day like today???
One small job at a time, rotating through the jobs till one by one they get completed & knocked off the list.
That means I'll edit a few pics, then prep a row of the quilt, pick an area to work on the nutcrackers, do a few decorations, & so on & so on.
Is this the Most efficient way to tackel my day???
Probably not, but at least it will stay interesting since I'm having to tackel it all on my own & I won't feel guilty working in a little rotation on the laptop doing a little "catching up".
Wish me luck on getting lots done today & I hope you have a Wonderful Saturday! :o)

holiday delusions, hmmm....

maybe- maybe not. Okay now I've just gotten cocky, lol!
I have finished cutting all 896 sqares! Wahhoo!
So theoretically I could start sewing tomorrow & have One of the quilts finished by Christmas...

well that is if we can get all the decorating (cause we don't decorate for Christmas until after we pay homage to the turkey) done today. That's a pretty tall order, I don't know if we've Ever gotten it All done in one day. Maybe that's the delusion at this point, Jim wants it done today so he can go back to his bro's cabin hunting again- I want it done today so I can move on to other things like sewing, Christmas baking & so on.

Well obviously I'm not going to get all that accomplished sitting here talking to you sooo I guess I had better get off my behind & get busy, keep your fingers crossed & wish me luck - it's a pretty tall order but maybe just maybe we can pull it off! :o)

pj's & baking, baking in pj's

that's the way I'll spend my day! LOL! :o)
Well today is the first day of Thanksgiving break for me (no work for subs the day before a break).
I decided to make it a pj day (my Favorite day of the week!)
& to play catch up.
So far today I have baked Six Pumpkin Pies, one Pumpkin Cheesecake, & two pans of sweet potato casserole.
You know what that means ...



that this is what you see in my kitchen ...



& it's warm in there ...
& it Smells wonderful! :o)
The kitchen does look like a bomb went off in there, lol.
But it's all good ...
that's why we have detergent.
I only bake like this once a year
& it brings a smile to sooo many of my favorite people!
I wasn't able to get a pic of the cheesecake ...
Jim took off with my camera.
WHA! Yep I let him take it hunting with him, after all like I told my SIL "it's insured",
besides I would Love it if "the bug" bit him too. :o)
Maybe I'll have time to snap a pic of it when he gets home tomorrow, we'll see.
Tonight he's gone to his brother's cabin hunting so it will be just Dev & me (when he gets home from rehersal). Tomorrow when Jim gets home we'll load up & head to my parents ( I know, I know... I'm not thrilled about her but it's Dev's sr year & he misses seeing his cousins & I miss being with my parents-maybe she'll behave-one can hope anyway).
My brother (Jason) & his wife (Tonya) are hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year. I'm in charge of pumpkin pie, deviled eggs. sweet potatoes, & I threw in the pumpkin cheesecake (we tried it for Thanksgiving last year & fell in Love with it) for good measure. It's a Paula Deen recipe, I'll post it after I get it entered.
On another note I'm still busy cutting squares to make the quilts for Devan's beds (that's what I'll be doing now that I'm done with the baking). It's been a loooong road but I'm beginning to see an end in sight.
Started out needing 896 squares & now I only need ... 217! :o)
Hoping to start the sewing process shortly after Thanksgiving (lol) & to maybe have One of the quilts finished by Christmas (LMBO) ...
anyway high hopes & Holiday dilusions are a Good Thing, right?!?
So if I don't talk to you again till after Turkey Day I hope that you & yours have a...
Very Happy Thanksgiving!
I know that I have my fingers crossed that we'll have a peacefull Thanksgiving - now That would definately be something to be Thankful for!!! :o)

the road of life is very rough sometimes ...

so for those who know us this comes as NO Suprise!
After all I've said it from the very beginning...
"within Six months of getting his license that kid is going to put the van in a ditch!"
yep that's what I've said and it has finally come true, I would have prefered to have been wrong on this prediction but I wasn't :o( .
Tuesday night he had rehearsal, when it was over we got the text that he was on his way home.
When his headlights approached the drive the dogs started "barking" their welcome, after a bit I told Jim "Callie sure is barking for a long time" to which he replied "nah, she always barks long".
A while later Devan finally came through the door & qiuetly said
"I need some help"
Us "help, with what?"
Dev "I'm not sure what I hit but something knocked me off the drive"
Us "what? off the drive? how fast were you going???"
Dev " not very fast, only about 25"
Us "25!!! are you crazy! you should barely get up to 10!!!"
blah, blah, blah- you get the picture.
Soooo Jim goes out & after quite a while comes back and says " it's going to take a tow truck to get it out & I'm not sure that it won't end up in the pond" - great just great ...
So Wednesday morning I handed over the money that Devan was saving for the London trip to pay for a tow truck.
Turns out that we weren't even able to get up the drive ourselves, to get to work we had to drive across the nieghbor's yard (thank-goodness that the house is empty right now) & go up their drive.
Jim felt bad for him & kept thinking about it that morning till he realized that his cousin has a diesel dually & a great big chain. So he borrowed the truck, came home, & after a lot of pulling & sweating was able to get the van back on the drive. :o) (Devan owes his dad Big Time! I would have just paid the tow truck & let it be their problem) He said that more than once he was sure that it was going to tip over & end up in the pond before he got it up on the drive again.
You know the kid just hugs the shoulder soooo bad I knew it would happen, thing is since he did it the drive in much narrower now so he has no margin for error- geesh that really doesn't make me feel better.



just before driving across the neighbor's yard to use their drive so I could go to work I jumped out with my phone & snapped a couple of shots just to show you :o)



I appoligize for the glare, it was early morning. The photos don't really do it justice - I'm not sure that you can really tell how far off the drive his tires were but Trust me it was pretty bad!
Ultimately though if this is the worst that he ever does driving I know that we will have gotten off easy ... hey a girl can hope :o)

had a blast!

well we survived last night & actually made it home & to bed Before the sun was completely up, lol. My butt is actually dragging the ground pretty bad right now & I probably have No business typing (seeing the amount of times that I have hit the "back" button to "fix" things, lol).
Tammy is still in bed crashed but I got up 'cause my time is limited here today.
We had a Lot of fun last night & I actually did TWO LOs if you can believe that!!!
Maybe I'll be able to snap a few pics tomorrow after the boy's last shoot (till spring) & maybe I'll actually even get them posted Before the month is up, lol.
I have now "scrapped" Devan taking his permit test,driver's ed, & his taking the driving test- Subject Complete! :o) Hmmmm.... can you tell that I'm pretty dog-gone Glad he got his license! :o)
The girls that scrap at my friends store in Newport were Sooo Sweet! We really had a Blast! And at the end of the night Vaniessa took 40% off your Bill! No Exclusions! Sweet! You would not believe the amount of goodies that I was able to pick up/use for $19.01!!! :o) Definately worth the trip! :o)
Next week is a pretty full week (I'm already scheduled to work Every Day, except for Monday) so I probably won't be worth much for anything else.
I need to get dressed & get my car packed (I have to head home this evening) so that's all for now.
See Ya! :o)

girls night out! :o)

Wow! I can't believe that it's been sooo long since I updated!
No one Ever told me how busy your life got when you have a Sr.-
for those of you who aren't quite there yet let me tell you ...
You won't know wether you need to wind your butt or scratch your watch! lol
Since Devan is going to London over spring break I am begging for & working every day I can get to help pay for it.
I have also become the sr photographer for Devan & his best friend Zach. Do you know what that means ??? EVERY spare minute that I have seems to be sitting in front of a screen editing pics, I am sooo sick of editing pics!!! LOL I really would have LOVED to have handed it off to a real Pro & let them be responsible for making him look Fabulous, but since there is the trip to pay for I get to do it.
I realized today that I haven't updated since the St. Jude crop & that I NEVER showed you any of the stuff that I worked on while there, so here goes ...




this is a LO that I did about Devan Finially getting his license!



yes mom-a-ratzi was in real form that day! you should have heard me ask the woman to let me take her picture "I'm a scrapbooker & I've have the paper to do this Layout for 2 Years! blah blah blah" LOL!




splurged for the qk road die for the border across the top, love it!



and I finished up my nephew Austin's egg colorong LO that I have been working on




between the new Jolee's easter embellies that came out & the new qk egg die I think it came out just perfect :o)




I also did a calendar, but you know me I'm still trying to figure out how to tweek it- something's just not right yet.
Now about "Girls Night Out!" I'm pretty excited!
I used to do this every month!
...Once upon a time long long ago there was a wonderful lss that had a monthly crop till 5 am saturday morning. All the cool chicks (lol) would go and stay out till sunrise & run a "tab" hehe, sounds fun huh!?!
But this lss kind of went down the drain and doesn't really exist anymore
those of us who went really really miss the "all nighters" a lot :o(
But a friend of mine (one of the cool chicks) has been able to open a small store & she now does "all nighters" for her people! I have been wanting to go to one of her crops for a year now & it has finially worked out to go & I couldn't be MORE excited!!! :o)
This also means that I will be seeing my bff Tammy in November! Wahoo! that NEVER happens, it's always too busy with the holidays & everything.
It will be a short trip, Tam has "on call" tonight so I won't leave till tomorrow. We'll be at the crop tomorrow till 5 am Saturday then we'll go back to her place to CRASH! Saturday evening/night I'll need to comse back home so I can take the guys out for hopefully one last "shoot" (till spring at least, lol).
Well that's it for now, sorry it took sooo long to update. How's it going at your place?

juicy cooters ???

OMG!!! Let me just tell you I have No Idea when I have had sooo much fun! I know for sure that I have Never laughed as hard or as long as I did at the St. Jude crop @ Eclecitca this past weekend. :o)

The group of women that go to their crops are just awesome & definately know how to have a Good Time! Apparently they liked us too :o) , they asked if we would be coming back for the 12 hour crops.

Now about the "juicy cooters"! One of the girls was telling us that last year she told her brother-in-law that she wanted some "JLo Glo" for Christmas. When he went to the Macy's perfume counter to buy some he was approached by a woman who was clearly old enough to be someone's MeeMaw & the sales lady proceeded to tell him that they had a new fragrance and asked him "wouldn't you like to smell this juicy cooter?" OMG! what did she say??? Then her brother-in-law looked at the bottle ... it was ... Juicy Couture!!! Okay that's pretty funny :o) , I wonder who finally broke it to her that it wasn't cooter ?!?

A couple of our new friends decided to break up the night with a little game of ring toss ...

this is Julie after she was "ringed"

here's Ann trying to get "ringed", lol! Can you see how tickeled these women are ??? We were All laughing our butts off! (look at Jennifer in the back!)

this is our little motley crew @ 4:30!

a few of us weren't exactly bright eyed & bushy tailed ALL night!

i don't really suggest sleeping in your car in Memphis ( not know for being the "safe" city) especially with you window down!

Last but definately Not least I thought I would share with you where Ann & Julie got the idea for their game! It's a youtube video & it's not called ring toss, it's called women of whippoorwil & it IS The FUNNIEST thing I have Ever Seen!!!! But before you click play let me Warn you their are a few things you need to do...

1. go to the bathroom, trust some people found this out the hard way :o)

2. do not have anything in your mouth, it won't stay there & you may choke

3. watch it more than one time, you will not be able to hear what they are saying the first time, lol

4. be sure you have the volume up!

...ready ... set .... play

hope you enjoy! I know it's been the best therapy I've ever had! :o)

and the clouds are gone :o(

i know that it needed to happen but it's sad all the same.
We got home from my parents Friday -that was yesterday right, lol. I swear I don't know where the time has gone.
Saturday we went to Jackson for the medical career day program (that was ummm... interesting). Later that night Jim started "cutting in" Devan's room- while doing so apparently he wanted to play a little. But what the ....



okay do you see that ??? Like what was he thinking- he was there when we named this kid so when did he Forget how to Spell His Name!!! lol



going, going, gone ...




at first I was worried about letting Devan be a part of the color decision (his best friend had suggested Dark PURPLE!!!! Ugh) . But when I sent them to the store to pick out samples I was pleasantly surprised :o)



the room is FAR from being done but it's livable & the furniture is back in there instead of ALL over the house...



I couldn't find any comforters that I like so that has started a new project. I'm making him jean quilts for his beds. :o) Uh yeah I hope ...
1. that I have enough jeans ( I only need 448 - 6" squares)
2. that I get quicker at the prep part and
3. that the actual assembly part goes much quicker !!! :o)
This was our first week back to school after fall break & I will work 2 days this week (not bad).
Tomorrow my bff Tammy will be coming over after she gets off work & then I will start packing up ALL my stuff. We are heading out bright & early Friday morning (no work for me that day) for Memphis. Eclectica (the best scrapbook store in this tri-state area) is having a 24 hour St. Jude crop & we are going!!! :o) The crop doesn't actually start till 5 Friday evening but she called & we can go early so we ARE! LOL! Cause everyone knows that 24 hours just isn't enough! Plus we need to make sure that we have plenty of time to hit ALL the stores & spend ALL the money that we Don't have! I don't get to Memphis much anymore with the price of gas the way it is so I need plenty of time to pilfer through all the new goodies :o)

better late than never ...

seventeen years ago when I had my kid No one ever told me to be sure and take a picture of my
doctor with my baby (we didn't have scrapbookers back then so we weren't thinking about shots for possible LOs, lol).
Last week went I went for my "yearly" check-up I decided to take Devan with me (not in the room - just to the appt., lol) & I finally got the pictures that I should have gotten 17 years ago-better late than never! :o)



Devan & Dr. Melton, I will tell you the nurses were a little more than confused when they looked up & Devan was back there, lol, I guess Dr. Melton didn't think to tell them he would be coming back




look at that! My baby is Taller than the dr. that brought him into the world. I really can't believe how fast the time has flown by ...

... come on buddy :o)

last weekend when Devan & I got to Tammy's it took "the guys" all of about ummm... 5 minutes to get rock band set up down in Sky's room, lol.
After about an hour they had come upstairs for a drink & a few minutes later I heard Weston (Tammy's grandson) say "come on buddy" to Devan :o) (he was ready to go back downstairs to play again). Devan is so good with little ones when they are around, I hope he never loses that quality ...



new buddies Devan & Weston



just being Guys & Rockin' out!!!

we're back, well for tonight ...

we had a fabulous 4 days visiting with Tammy & her family :o)
Devan "Rock Banded" with Weston & went to Church with Bees
I scrapped with Tammy(worked on the rolodex that I'm doing with Devan's drama pics from last year), did a little shopping & went to the Dr. for my yearly.
We stayed up late & ate too much, lol, you know the usual bad habbits for time spent with those you are closest to.
We came home today to do laundry & repack, heading out in the morning to my parents for a few days. Going to take the nephews on our "fall picnic" tomorrow and just hang out with my parents for a few days (if it works out).
We'll be back Friday to get ready for Saturday. Devan has been invited to attend a "medical career day" in Jackson.
So tonight I'm trying to do a little catch up while waiting on the laundry, I had promised that I would post the chicken recipe that I tried last week when I had a chance to enter it on the computer- here it is (hope you enjoy) :

PAN SAUTE`ED CHICKEN WITH VEGETABLES & HERBS

4 CHICKEN BREAST
1 TBL. ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
2 TBL. OLIVE OIL
2 SMALL RED ONIONS, CUT INTO QUARTERS
8 OUNCES FRESH WHOLE BABY CARROTS (ABOUT 16)
1 LB. NEW POTATOES, CUT INTO QUARTERS
1 ½ C. CHICKEN STOCK
3 TBL. LEMON JUICE
1 TBL. CHOPPED FRESH OREGANO LEAVES
1 TBL. CHOPPED FRESH THYME LEAVES

Heat oven to 350.

Season the chicken as desired. Coat with flour

Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until it’s well browned on all sides. Remove chicken from the skillet.

Add the onions & potatoes to the skillet & cook for 5 minutes. Add the carrots, stock, lemon juice and oregano and heat to a boil. Return the chicken to the skillet. Cover the skillet.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Uncover pan and bake for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with thyme.

... and away we go

so this had been the first week of Fall Break & it has been a very Busy week!
Devan has been taking an ACT prep course this week & we've been working on his room little by little ...



as you can see the guys took down the chair rail this week ( he didn't want it anymore)
the walls have all been scrubbed and prepped for painting (if only we can get the time, lol) .
I finally got around to having Devan design his Sr. ring
(I know, I know... better late than never)
& it has been ordered-should be here in about 4 weeks ...


here's a pic, I really like the way it turned out. I wasn't sure if it was going to happen- at first he wanted some really strange stuff on it that had NOTHING to do with His time in high school. His dad & I both insisted "that in years to come someone should be able to look at your class ring & know something about your high school years". So this is what he came up with.
Zach (my weekend kid) showed up unexpectedly on Wed. & I knew something was wrong ...
I told him to sit & when I sat with him he broke down. After a few minutes I asked if it was Sierra & he said they broke up !!! You could have knocked everyone over with a feather, their relationship began 3 years ago - here on our property at a bon-fire Devan had.
Zach stayed the night that night & went to church with Devan.
Sierra called crying, a wreck & so I went & met her down the road at one of the churchs & we talked for a few hours.
my goodness this job sure can be hard:o(
We Love them both & we don't want to see either one hurt, but they were very young when they started dating & it's hard to think that they would "stay together" for ever at that age.
Now on to the Good Stuff!!!
I have got to get busy & start packing ... Dev & I leave bright & early in the am to go to my bff's -Tammy !!!
I have my "yearly dr. appt." on Monday so we'll be heading on to Batesville from Jonesboro (sooo much quicker & easier when you already have 2 hrs. of the trip behind you), and we'll come home Tues. evening. So that gives us Sat., Sun., & Tue. with Tammy :o).
Tuesday evening to unpack, do laundry, repack, & head back out this time to my parent's on Wednesday.
We'll come back from there on Friday & then we'll be in Jackson bright & early on Saturday morning. Devan was invited to attend a "medical career day" at on of the hospitals there and one of the areas they are "shadowing" that day is radiology (which just happens to be an area that we have been trying to steer him towards). At least he can kind of get a taste of it & see if it really appeals to him at all.
I also tried a "new" chicken recipe this week. It was very easy & sooo Good! I'll post it later after I get it entered on my puter.
whew, busy busy busy times. Guess I had better get up & packing :o)
hope you'll have a Wonderful Weekend (I know I will ;o) ...

and the zoo adventure continues ...

when we went to the zoo the last time Sierra said "I've never been to the Memphis Zoo" & I promised that we would make the time to take her. It was like pulling teeth to get it all together but we finally got all the schedules worked out and this past Sunday packed up the car & off we went :o)



isn't this little guy the cutest ?!? he looks like that really feels good :o)



Sierra, Devan, & Zach pose with "Budda"



the butterfly garden was closed :o( , I guess it gets too cold for them - what do you think they do with all the butterflies when they close the garden ??? Sierra found this one while we were on our way to the garden



isn't he Beautiful! Sooo Majestic



a little tongue action! hehe, can't resist a "cat" with tongue :o)



he looks sooo wise, kinda like Rafeki



one last shot of "my peeps" before we left



... so Zach bought these roasted- flavored-larva-YES! WORMS! before we left & the guys are fixing to EAT THEM!!! (while posing for this one of the boys said "our worms are touching!" , I 'bout laughed my butt off)



do you SEE this!!! That is MY son!!! The ONE who WON'T put ANYTHING in his mouth that has the name PEA or BEAN !!! But He WILL eat a WORM !!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME !!!
It was a nice afternoon spent with "peeps" who are close to my heart :o) , the weather was sooo much nicer that the 94 degrees that we had last time, lol. And somehow NO one managed to fall/jump into the fountain this time :o)
So how did you spend your Sunday afternoon...