At Christmas Parade

Seth saw his (Brownie) friends!

My choir and my choir helper

This was taken right before the Christmas Program. It was so sweet!

The boys

This says it all. :) I get tired and stressed, but look at our little family here. Life is good.

Early Christmas Present!

(This picture has nothing to do with anything, I just really like it.)

I got an oboe. YAY!!!!!! It was used, but a good deal. I'm actually not too bad on it so far. My goal is to play it in church someday. It'll take a lot of practice till then, though. I can't wait. :) I just love the sound and have wanted one forever. Still have my book from 7th grade. Good grief that was a LONG time ago.

Even with Christmas break, I have something almost every day up until Christmas! Christmas Eve will be the busiest, with "normal" church services in the morning, then the 3 special ones at night. Have to be at the 9:00p one for the chimes, and the 11:00p for the choir. But it'll be good. Chime practice was actually quite fun. I think I like the chimes better than the bells b/c if you make a mistake with the chimes, it's not so dang obvious!! haha

I really hate that it's so busy right now. I don't feel like I can enjoy the holidays at all sometimes. We haven't even got the tree up since we wanted to do it together and we're all either in and out, or just plain tired. So, this weekend, it'll go up for sure. Will have to skip pictures in Christmas cards, I think, unless I print them out myself (and even then, our printer's not hooked up). Oy.

I really, really want 2007 to be the year I "get it together"!!! I mean, organizationally, mentally, spritually, and physically. I'm getting there, but things have just been so chaotic this year with Ken going to school. Plus with us both being sick one after the other the past two weeks....geez, gimme a break! Man, and with 2007 comes my 20 year high school reunion...even typing that, and knowing that, I *still* don't feel like I'm that OLD!! Oh geez, and does this mean I have to lose weight? Eh. I don't care...I don't think anyone does, either!

Old picture...what memories!

This is what I found at the top of the stairs one evening! (Check out that raspberry pink carpet...yikes!) I was so afraid he'd roll down the stairs, but he never did. He just wanted to hear our voices before he went to sleep. Awww!

There are days when I wish I could just turn back the clock and be cocooned in that "toddler time"...past the diapers but before school started. Sometimes I even wish I could go back to the "baby time" if just for the simplicity of the whole thing. I think that's why a lot of women have babies again...for that feeling. Hmm...that time when nothing is expected of you except keeping that baby alive everyday! LOL (Of course, if you already have a child, I suspect you never can get back that true "cocoon" feel when you have just one baby...that's a special time.) I enjoy looking back sometimes, but I wouldn't trade my current Seth for the baby Seth. He's such a good boy! (And so funny...what a sense of humor that little goob has!)

Anyway, I think that's what I miss...the simplicity of life back then. No spelling tests, nothing to "get ready for" (school, camping, programs, etc.). I actually do enjoy it, but I also get tired of it all every once in a while, especially when things get overwhelmingly busy and then I get sick or something!

It's easy to wallow in the past, but I think every once in a while it's good to look back and remember the good times. I savor the memories, but enjoy the present and look forward to the future.

Christmas List :)

If I could have aaaaanything I wanted (no matter what the cost):

1. See the Zugspitze, the highest mountain in Germany

2. Go to the White House and meet the President and his wife

3. Pink New Beetle

4. iPod - pink accessories of course

5. Oboe (okay, this is a little more realistic - I really really want one someday)

6. Valley of the Dolls soundtrack (okay, this is really realistic and affordable!)
Eh. I'm easy to please. But it's fun to dream.

Beautiful November 28th and 30th

Top picture: 74 degrees, light wind, basically perfect fall day

2 Days later.....

Bottom picture: 30 degrees, light snow, basically perfect winter day

I love it here!

My List for 2007

It's been a rough year, so I'm looking ahead. Here's my plans for 2007:

1) Continue de-cluttering (working on the empty boxes in the attic now)

2) Go through all the 2006 pix and print a few for my "real" picture albums

3) Put pix in albums

4) Finally get the courage, and sew the skirt with the pattern/material I've had forever

5) Convert all home videos to DVD (big job)

6) Convert wedding video to DVD (not so big a job)

7) Maintain, not gain, weight. I'm too stressed to try to lose right now!

8) Get my child through braces (This WILL happen! Seth's braces come off Jan. 4th!!!!!)

9) Put together our wedding shadow box

10) Continue spiritual growth

11) Buy an oboe and be able to play it at church

12) Make the piano room better

13) Get the exercise area back up and running

I've had a few of those on my 2006 list, but this year has been a hard one for me. I'm trying to go easy on myself.

Actually, the pictures and videos things are usually enjoyable, but I'm just so wiped out that I think of it as more of a chore nowadays. So I've decided to just hold off till things are down to a low roar...and then I may actually enjoy it.

I maintained the 15 pound loss from last year, so that's a big accomplishment considering the year I had. I hope to maintain next year and I know I can do that.

I feel like the spiritual growth thing has been the best thing I've done this year, and I want to continue that. Things in "normal life" have been so crazy and busy and stressful, but with God's help, 2006 has been the best *spiritually* that I've ever had. Guess that worked out well after all. :)

I'm ready to get 2006 in the history books already!

"Those are PERFECT! Take a picture!"

So I did. :)


These are my candied yams. I must say, they DID turn out good this year. Yay!

Thanksgiving Table

Our gathering spot. I almost forgot to take a picture before we ate! Ken did a great job with the turkey (as always! "A triumph m'dear!"). Everything else turned out fine and mom's pumpkin pies were FABULOUS as always. Seth ate 2 pieces!!

Seth at Home Depot

Went to Home Depot with scouts to fulfill some requirements.

Wood projects? Ok. Fire trucks? Sure. Police car? WOOHOOOO! He kept going back to it. He even knew where the lights were, and got to turn them on. LOL

Car show entry (LOL)

This was just for fun. Darn, you can't really see the antennae I stuck up through the sun roof. hehe One of these days, I want to be worthy of a car show (desired mods - dyed seat inserts, painted engine cover, painted dash, new floor mats with embroidery to match the car, etc. etc.). Oh well, I'm keeping the car forever, so I got time.

What a little goob

This is Seth's "surprised" look. (At the car show in October)

My books :)

I was glad to let the church borrow my Methodist Doctrine and Discipline books and old hymnals for our 100 Year celebration. I got to arrange the display. I wanted people to see how Methodists back then thought, so that's why I opened so many of the books. We were against slavery from the beginning, and were strict about how people acted, especially if they were preachers! The hymnals didn't even have music notes, just words. Amazing what you find on eBay.

Two buddies at church

Seth and Mitchell at our chapel's dedication.

Groundbreaking

Seth was the youngest member in attendance for our church's bell tower groundbreaking, so he got to help "break ground"!

Tired

I'm surprised *I* haven't fallen asleep in my food. I wish I could just scream "STOP!" to the world and I could get some rest. After this weekend it'll be better. The scout camping trip will be over, my choir will have sung their songs, and I won't have any obligations for a while. Well, until Halloween a couple of days later. I'll have to figure out something with Seth for his costume. Ghost, anyone? I feel like I'm always doing something for everybody else and not for me.

I am SO burned out right now. But tough, there's too much I have to do.

I'm just sort of sick of everything right now. (And if I'd buy anything for myself, I'd feel guilty because of money. )

Off to take an Ambien. Hope it works tonight.

Hey Ref! Over here!

*sigh* Enough said!

Anyone have a spare $25K?

It's perfect. Absolutely freakin' perfect. The exact perfect color of pink I love. Dang.

If only 1) I had about $25K and b) a spare day to fly to Dallas and drive it back home.

The things you see on eBay!

My new choir, the Littlest Lambs

Lord help me! LOL Actually, they are a great group of kids, and my Choir Helper "Miss Katie" is awesome. I have 3 years old on up to Kindergarten. I have eight now as of tonight (this was from a couple of weeks ago).

How I spent last Monday

Our tour guide, Officer Ken, myself, and the boy. Unfortunately, someone was just arrested so we couldn't see the jail. Seth REALLY wanted to see the jail. He asked "where are the black and white shirts?" when we were shown the orange jumpsuits on a shelf. (If you think about it, movies and cartoons show prisoners in black and white stripes a lot of times!)

End of the Trail

Seth at the Owasso City Hall, by the "End of the Trail" statue. Good grief, guess I need to buy the boy some new jeans. Geesh. Didn't realize they looked so worn until now!! haha

One happy boy :)

He enjoyed the police station tour. What a good boy!

Goodbye to Bert Kitty :(

He was our nap buddy, our friend. He knew when we were sad. He was a mellow soul. Caught a hummingbird and let it go (and it was fine)! Ate spiders and flies if he caught them (yuck)! Played with a flyswatter and carried it in his mouth to you so you'd play with him. Loved ice and water, but freaked everytime I took a shower! My first cat as an adult. It was hard to let him go, but he's not suffering anymore. I'm glad I had the time I did with him. I bet everyone that's met him will miss him. He was a good kitty.

Bert Back Home!

This was Bert Friday (complete with purple bandage on his leg). He feels SO much better now. Poor kitty's been through a lot these past few days! He looks so pitiful here. He's been eating/drinking/etc. for a few days so far, so I think we're okay for a while. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers....he's a special kitty to us. :)

From this summer

At the Presbyterian VBS....also happens to be wearing another VBS shirt!

Seth and buddy

Seth and his buddy Michael from last year. Michael....has a mohawk!!!

First Day of Second Grade

My little goober. He's such a good little boy. :)

Whirlwind around here

Good grief, took about 3 weeks to realize what the deal was on logging into this site to update it....had the cookie blocked for some strange reason. But it never said that! It just kept popping up "click here to continue" whenever I logged in. I went through SO many send e-mail/change passwords types of crap. Never had that problem until the Google message came up on the main screen. Thanks Google. I swear, very soon the world will be run by Microsoft, Google, eBay, Sony, Verizon, etc. No "little guys" anymore!

Things are shaping up to be a good school year

First, Seth has a teacher that has been described as "great, and soooo nice". Whew.

One down.

Then, we're going to have a new Cub Scout leader, and she's already gotten the plans laid out for the next few months (no more finding out there's a den meeting a hour before it starts).

There's two.

Last but not least....our church has taken my suggestion and going to have a preschool/kindergarten choir only (and then two other elementary choirs)! I get to do the littlest ones, which I really wanted!

That's three.

Only thing is, hopefully our church will have room for our new Cub Den on Monday nights. I could use a few prayers for that. :)

School starts August 17th!! Will post "first day of school" pix when I get 'em.

August 1, 1991

Has it really been 15 years?!

Almost anniversary time ;)

This was on our first date...taken by one of those keychain-picture salesman. Boy am I glad Ken bought this! June 29, 1990.

Bumper Sticker someone made...might have to get this someday

"Vee Duuuub"

Come on. You gotta love this guy, even if you don't own a VW!

With everything going on....

....I needed to smile. This picture does it! October 1st marks the day I haul out the Charlie Brown Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas DVDs. I'm looking forward to this year since Ken will be done with school (hopefully). This season will be B-U-S-Y though. I hope we can all make it through.

Found this in my archives

I wonder where Bin Laden is now? It'll be 5 years this September 11th. Wow. Unbelievable. Seems like yesterday. How our world has changed since then.

Ooooooh if I had the money! (and an extra garage)

(And this is, apparently, a real car...not a photoshopped image!!)

Why this particular color just makes me smile is beyond me. I have a Pampered Chef knife and cutting board this color and I love it.

Probably about 99% of the world hates this color. That's another thing....what's the deal with people hating pink? I don't mean like "Gee, I don't care for pink." I understand that....but I mean, HATE! What's that all about? There's probably not another color in the world (except for "puke green", as in pea green) that people feel so strongly about. I mean, come on....it's a COLOR people! R-E-L-A-X. I've known more than one woman in my life that was just revolted by anything pink! (To me, it's almost like a guy that's totally revolted by sports...."Ewwww football! I HATE football!") hehe

AH....Oprah moment...Maybe I get it....it's that way with me with a certain color of burnt orange....because it's "Texass" Longhorn orange and, well, I'm a Sooner so I am destined to hate Longhorns. (LOL) But I mean, I still "do" orange at Halloween. Not like I have convulsions at the sight of anything orangish. Interesting. I could do a whole thesis on this. I just might someday. "The Psychology of Color....Why Some Women Hate Pink". Oooh. I likey.

Quote from http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/color_pink.htm:

Pink is essentially a light red and is usually associated with love and romance.
Pink is thought to have a calming effect. One shade known as “drunk-tank pink” is sometimes used in prisons to calm inmates. Sports teams sometimes paint the opposing teams locker room pink to keep the players passive and less energetic.
While pink’s calming effect has been demonstrated, researchers of color psychology have found that this effect only occurs during the initial exposure to the color. When used in prisons, inmates often become even more agitated once they become accustomed to the color.

Veddy, veddy innnnteresting! And here's this.....

Quote from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html about pink (this is all they had, just mostly did "main" colors):

The most romantic color, pink, is more tranquilizing. Sports teams sometimes paint the locker rooms used by opposing teams bright pink so their opponents will lose energy.

In my humble opinion, I would think a light pink would be more "tranquilizing" than "bright pink"....what are they thinking?

Anyways, SO...in this website's opinion, pink is "romantic" and "tranquilizing". Hmmmmmmm. So I'm a lover not a fighter, then? ;)

Life truly is short

Our Sunday School family lost a member tonight. Lincoln was in a motorcycle accident tonight and didn't make it. He wasn't wearing a helmet. He happened to be Bert and Ernie's vet as well.

He was such a great guy with a "wiseguy" sense of humor. I was going through my pictures yesterday, and was just thinking about him and his wife, (and others in our SS class)... how great they were together at the church dance. They were like teenagers in love! Man, could they both dance. You could tell they loved each other so much. We are blessed to have so many couples like that in our class (and our church).

He leaves behind his wife, and three boys, and many friends and family.

Please, please. If you ride a motorcycle, wear a helmet.

Bert in a Bag

How much would you pay for THIS?! haha

Last Day of School (from May!)

Getting all the pictures ("real" ones from digital to being printed) in albums....big project considering the last pix I had in albums were from LAST SUMMER!!!

Found this one....Seth, his buddy Nick (5th grader) and Nick's brother Sam (2nd grader), who went to Cub Scout camp, too. Nick has crossed to Boy Scouts....such a nice kid. He really looked after Seth after school. One of the reasons I like the Scouts is because of the kids in it.

Cub Scout Day Camp

It was a VERY long week, but hopefully we'll both remember the fun stuff...like these "stilts"!

BB gun shooting

This was the first time....a Boy Scout helped him out the whole time. The second time around, he did it ALL BY HIMSELF! I was so proud, because those guns are hard to handle and Seth's a little guy.

Seth caught a fish!

A bluegill, to be exact. (They catch and release.) Then the second time they fished, he caught a baby snapping turtle!! Good thing that sucker was thrown back in fast, I guess.

Our little archer

The bow is about as big as he is!