a little Scrappy shopping & a Sweet Surprise ...

So My tradition while at the Thespian Conference is ...
while the kids shop at the mall I head on over to my favorite Scrapbook Store! This year I also made time to go to Archivers ;-).
I have to tell you that I'm not sure what it was ...
if it's that after a year of toning down the shopping I'm just not into the shopping part as much (YEAH RIGHT!) or if the store inventory was down because of pending CHA (but they hadn't started the "clear the shelves" sales yet), I really think it was that I haven't scrapped since November & I didn't really have a LO in mind sooo I just couldn't think of how I would use the stuff. So things just weren't Jumping out at me. But Have NO Fear ... I did NOT walk out Empty Handed! :o)

I took the plunge & purchased the New Quickutz binder! I also got a package of the 4x4 pages & 1 of the magnetic pages. I found the cutest little megaphone chipboard album, a package of cheer embellies, some graduation rubbons (they were clearanced so All the Much Better!) a couple of New stickels, & 2 double sided pages of BoBunny paper. That's It! That's ALL I bought!!! Can you believe that it came up to $61! I had even used TWO 30% off coupons! I know the binder was quite a Huge investment but still ... the cost of scrapping supplies have gone through the roof. :o(
I Love the few things I did buy so it's All good! :o)
When I got home from conference & got the mail on Tuesday (cause the was NO mail on Monday) I found a little Scrappy Surprise from my BFF Ruth! Seems she saw a little something that made her think of me while she was out shopping :o) ...



OMG! Isn't it Great! Think of ALL the Rockband pages that I haven't even began to tackle!
THANKS RUTH!!! :o)
I just got a call from my aunt in SC a little while ago telling me that she was headed out the door headed to my parents house. (she's very worried about my mom, she's home but still not doing so well) So I guess I will be headed to mom's tomorrow, it will be the first time I've been there since the attack. From what I heard from my SIL she hasn't calmed down any & is Over the top with Control over Mom & Everything around her or having to do with her ...
I just can't even tell you How much I dread tomorrow, but I want to see my mom & my aunt sooo ...
I'll be getting up at 6:30 to cook dinner so I can leave here by 10am, so I can be there buy lunch time to feed them because mom doesn't know they're coming & I'm sure dad hasn't thought of anything like that.
So please keep your fingers crossed for me that somehow (against all odds) tomorrow can be a peaceful (not asking for happy-just peaceful) day.

Travel Time & a Little Shopping ...

Sooo ... today I thought I would thrill you once again by sharing some more pics from the Thespian Conference! Wahoo!
Will the excitment Never end ??? ;-)
While the rest of us were gassing up the vehicles for the trip Jim went back to the school ...
(cause a couple of the guys in his truck were completely scatter brained & FORGOT ALL their stuff for an audition! isn't he Sweet!)
When he came back he had another passenger ...
it was ... well see for yourself ...


LOOK Closely! In his front seat is ...
Barack Obama!
(I have NO idea what the skit was, we didn't sit in on the audition)
when I looked up saw that I had to Grab the camera but don't worry we were sitting still waiting for everyone else to finish getting gas.
After we get to Memphis & check into the hotel we head over to Wolfchase for a Little shopping,
this time we had about 4 Hours to Shop!


a few of our girlies Anne Marie, Anna, & Whitney


Chris' car front left to right: Aaron, Anne Marie, & Mary
back row: Sara, Erin, & Devan
Before leaving the mall we had Everyone jump on the Carousel
(these pics were A Lot harder than I thought they would be!)

Whitney, Susan, & Jordan


Deanna, Sanibel, Erin, & in the back in the glasses Cody


Devan



Our usual Group photo in front of the Carousel !
I'm pretty sure that we had ALL 31 kids in this Shot!
(I can't begin to tell you what a Great group of kids these are or How much I LOVE getting spend this time with Them!)
On the way Home I couldn't resist ...

I had Deanna Grab my camera & take a few pics of the one's who crashed out! lol
That's the price you pay when you stay up Sooo Late that you can't stay awake on the way home & leave your driver sitting in Silence fighting Sleep ;-)
(thank Goodness I was able to keep the girls up front Awake to talk to me!)
... Good Times with Great Kids! :o)

Breakfast at McDonalds ...

It is a Long standing tradition that when we are on our way to Memphis for the State Thespian Conference that we stop at the McDonald's in Ripley for breakfast. While there we pull out our cameras & start snapping adorable pics of ALL our kids. :o)
This year however we got started a little early snapping ...
BEFORE anyone had food or was seated ...
we just couldn't HELP ourselves ...
you see there was this GUY ...
well I really can't do it JUSTICE ...
have a Look for YOURSELF ...


OMG!!! :o)
I haven't seen a Mullet like that since the 80's!
Have You ?!?
Remember yesterday when I told you that we weren't trying to get a pic of me but trying to get a pic of someone else ???
Well this gentleman was the someone else,
you really have to admire the dedication it must take to keep that style. :o)
Now I'll share a few of my Favorite McD's pics of this year ...


The ever Famous "Uncle Jim" (my Guy) & "Uncle Jeff" (my Bud)


Lindsay, Jordan G, Jessica, & Jordan M


The Fabulous Miss Chris & Nat (her BFF) :o)
( I Love these Girls!)


Devan & Eric


Me & "My Guy" better know as ...
"Aunt Sheila" & "Uncle Jim" :o)


Erin & Deanna
So that's it for today,
just wanted to share a little part of our "Thespian Conference" tradition
-Pics at McDonald's !!!
These tend to be some of My favorite pics of the weekend ;-)
Hope you day is Fabulous! :o)

in Love Again & a New do :o) ...

Well I have to say that the older I get the More I embrace my Girlyness & the more I have to be In Love with what I'm buying. If it's an investment (which for me means more than $10, lol) it has to Scream Sheila for me. ;-)
As you know I made a jump on New Years Eve & bought myself a new laptop. After getting her home we discovered that she didn't fit into the laptop bag that was already at the house (I had gone with a larger monitor for picture editing). In D'burg our Only place to shop is the all sooo Lovely Wal-Mart (I actually typed that without gagging, lol). When I went to check they only had one bag that Essie would fit into ... it Cost $41.88+tax ... & it was FUGLY!!!
So I turned to the wonderful ETSY site & found exactly what I was looking for! :o)
I was able to order & get it in just in time to take Essie to the conference with me last weekend & I have to tell you that made me very Happy!
So here's my new Lovely bag ...

That is a Lovely Huge zippered pocket across the front there & inside are 3 nice roomy pockets & it has the thickest padding inside & just incase you are in the market I found her here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=78675

On another note I thought that I would share my New Do with you!
I got my hair cut 2 weeks ago tomorrow ( a big change for me, she cut At Least 5 inches OFF!).
Since I'm the one that's Always behind the camera I just haven't had a pic to share, but when we were headed to Memphis for the conference & stopped at McD's for breakfast I gave the camera over to one of the kids & they snapped a pic of me. We really weren't trying to get a pic of me, we were trying to get a pic of a guy in there & we just didn't want to make it obvious that we were taking his picture so they took my picture first, lol.


So that's my new hair, what do ya think ???
It should have plenty of time to grow out before "convertible hair" time (it's actually easier for me to take the top down with long hair). But I hadn't realized that my hair had gotten sooo Long! Not until we went to see The Lights of the Delta & I got a Good look at my hair in the pic with Santa (see previous post "Family Traditions"). When I saw the picture I asked Devan "My Gosh! Is my hair Really That LONG ?!?" To which he replied "Yeah Mom, you've got Pentecostal Hair" ...
While there is Nothing wrong with Pentecostal Hair or the Pentecostal belief ummm ...
I'm NOT Pentecostal sooo it had to GO! LOL (my hairdresser got a real laugh out of that story & was very glad for his comment, needless to say it had been a Looooong time since I had been in to see her)
Hope your day has been a good one! :o)

Uncle Jim !!!

Well he's FAMOUS ya Know !!! :o)
At least at the State Thespain Conference he is. ;-)
On Saturday after lunch they have a Guest performer on the main stage,
this year is was a trio of women called
The Aerial Angels & they were Fabulous!
They call their show "Quirk Du Soleil".
That pretty much tells you what their show was like.
They are very good at what they do & I have to say personally they are by far my favorite Guest performer so far.
At one point of the show they announced that they needed an assistant & that they wanted the guy in the 4th row (we were shoved through the doors at record speed & catapulted down to some really great seats this year) with the Grey Hair & Beard! (OMG!)
At that point I looked to my left at Jim there was NO mistaking who they were talking about!
Being the trouper that he is he got up with a smile (I'm sure it was one of embarrassment) on his face started making his way to the stage.
While he was coming up they asked him what his name was & about 20 of our 31 kids yelled ...
"UNCLE JIM" !!! (that's what they call him)
So I thought I would treat you this morning to some pics of "Uncle Jim" on stage at the state thespian conference 2009. Please remember that as always there is NO Flash photography (actually you're NOT supposed to shoot at ALL), so the photos are very blurry & have lots of noise. Sorry. (this is definately a case of any shot is better than NO shot! ;-) )


Uncle Jim with Isabella (on the left) & Flame (on the right)


ummm... yep, he might have enjoyed this part a little. lol.
saftey check! they removed Everything from his pockets & brought them to Mrs. Jim,
cause like they said...
she's going to end up with it ALL anyway!


Isabella, Spike, Uncle Jim, & Flame
"Assume the Position!" LOL
do you have any idea how many kids (& adults)
came up to him after the show & said ...
"Assume the Position" ??? lol
& being the Good person that he is ... he Would!


You have NO idea how many times he heard "Uncle Jim!" after that show.
He's Famous!...or at the very least Infamous! ;-)
Chris is sure that he'll still be hearing calls of "Uncle Jim!" next year when we come back!
(that made me smile to know that we'll be coming back even though Dev won't be there :o( ,
I can't tell you how much we enjoy this weekend with this group of kids! They're totally Awesome & ROCK!!!)
So that's it for today, a funny little story about "My Guy" & what he'll do for our 31 "kids" (even though he'd rather crawl under the seats & die). lol.
"He's a Good Thespian Charlie Brown!" ;-)

the Best Birthday Present :o) ...

My BFF - Ruth was given absolutey THE Best Birthday present EVER this year!
On December 18th (her birthday) she welcomed her New Grandson to the world! :o)
Sooo without further ado (even though this is terribly late) I would like to introduce you to ...


Augustus Van Askea
born December 18th 2008
12:02 pm
7 lbs. 4 oz. & 20" long


Peter (the Proud Popa), Auggie,
& Kadin (One very Proud Big Brother)


Kadin (I'm sooo sure that I'm misspelling that)
& Auggie (totally my nickname for him)


Such a Sweet Boy :o)
Even though it's very late I wanted to say ...
Welcome to the World sweet Auggie,
I'm sure there are many Great things ahead for you
& I can't wait to actually "meet" you!
Love Ya!
"Aunt Sheila"

Family Traditions ...

Wow, I really can't believe how far behind I am here. Sorry about that (again).
First an update on Mom, she seems to be doing somewhat better. We still don't know the reasons for her symptoms that put her in the hospitol but she seems to be doing much better (at least the last time I talked to her she was). They are supposed to have home health start coming this week to help her get dressed & get around. I'm not sure how long that's supposed to last but I'm thankful for it just the same.


front row: Austin, Santa, Logan
second row: Sheila (me) & my sister in law Tonya
back row: Devan, Jim, & my brother Jason

A few years ago it became a Christmas traition of ours to have my little brother & his family to come & spend the weekend before Christmas with us. They come on Friday afternoon & after dinner the kids exchange gifts. After that we ALL put on our Santa hats, load into the van, put on some Christmas carols & head over to Blytheville, AR. to see The Lights of the Delta.
This is a HUGE Christmas light display that you drive through. It's hosted by the local high school FFA & it is just the sweetest! :o)

When you enter they have their very own radio station that you can tune your car radio to for Christmas music & half way through there's a stop! On Friday & Saturday this seems to be where Santa hangs out ; ) . While there you can have your photo taken with Santa. They do NOT charge for this but they do have a donation bucket set out. They print your picture immediately & they also upload it to their web where you can download it for free! There is also a small building that sells souvenirs, popcorn, & hot chocolate. It's really the sweetest & we ALL look foward to it.

Austin


Logan

Devan

After we get back from the Lights we start our Gingerbread! We have always done the houses but this year I decided to go with the trees instead, I think the boys liked them much better (they're easier ; ) )

isn't he a good uncle! he made SIX batches

(1 white - 1 green per boy) of icing!

they are concentrating sooo hard! :o)



Logan made his tree striped.

Devan hard at work ; ) ...

Three of the cutest guys I know with 3 of the cutest little gingerbread trees! :o)

By the time we are all done it's usually about...

1 am! Whew! (no wonder they LOVE it at Aunt Sheila's, lol)

saying "Sooo Long" to an "Old Friend" ...

well this has been a very Long - very Exhausting Christmas season. Devan says it's been "Our Un-Orthodox Christmas" , lol.
I'll try to keep this somewhat short ...
on the 23rd they put Mom in the hospitol (we didn't know where-dad didn't call & let us know where). She was in ICU till this past Monday (29th) . Yesterday (Wednesday 31) they let her come home. This morning she fell & hit her head, they called the ambulance & took her back to a hospitol & I am now waiting for an update. I'm trying to keep a hold on things from here, I can't be anywhere near them anymore without male escort/body gaurd- SHE attacked me Monday evening both physically & verbally in the ICU waiting room. The people in the waiting room & my parents don't need that so I came home. Apparently covering her butt meant more to her than mom's recovery cause she made up some kind of crap & told her. :o( There was NO need to do that, I wasn't telling anything because I didn't want to upset them & set her back.
Anyway, we came home last Saturday so I could shower, do laundry, & get a good nights sleep before heading back out @ 4 am to pick my brother Harold up & take him to the hospitol. That's when I discovered ...



that my beloved lap/pillowtop had officially bit the dust! :o(
As you can see from the pic above is was kind of ... ghetto, as the kids would say.
The hinges broke about 2 years ago (that's when it became a pillow-top, you had to prop it open with a pillow,lol).
Then about a year ago the fan went out, it would work sometimes but then it would quit, the laptop would over heat & shutdown. It had gotten to the point that you would have to "jiggle the cord" to get it to power up. Saturday that wasn't helping so I tried unplugging it & that's when I discovered ...
that the cord had Melted inside the computer! Truth was that was dissapointing but I didn't really have time to worry about/or fool with it with mom in the hospitol.
Since I was no longer able to be with her & had to come home & we got word yesterday that she was on her way home we decided to head over to Jackson to investigate the laptop market & this is what I decided to "Treat" myself to ...



She is Mighty Pretty! She's a Gateway with a 15.4" monitor & built in webcam ;) . Of course I'm not excited that I have to deal with Vista, ugh, but I'm pretty excited about my new toy! Right now I'm calling her Esmeralda, lol.