Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Recommendation...

I just finished reading A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. I highly recommend reading it. It is shocking and heart breaking that anyone, especially children, have to endure this kind of life.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Hangin' with the Butterflies

Yeah, really... I am actually getting around to posting these pictures. :) Oh, and.. even though the date on the pictures is 02/25/03... these were really taken in May of 2007. Really. I promise. Jeff took Allie, Ceara, Kaitlyn and Conor to the Butterfly Show in Cincinnati on one Wednesday. Here are the pictures they took:
























After the Butterfly show, the decided to walk across the Purple People Bridge and go into Kentucky to Newport on the Levee where they went to the movies to see Shrek the Third.




Did a little bird watching...


(The Purple People Bridge mentioned above.)

See, I did finally get around to it! :)

Friday, July 06, 2007

Happy Birthday, Allie!

Happy 14th Birthday, Allie!!! :) Below are various pictures of Allie and her friends. :)









Thursday, July 05, 2007

Fun Effects.. and random pics

OK, so.. as many of you know, I have been experimenting with colors of my hair the past few years. I go from red to dark brown: light red, dark red, light brown, dark brown... I was playing with some picture I took of myself, using "fun effects" and such, and just thought I would share. :)

In this one, I used a "Cartoon Effect" - and this is when I went dark brown:

Below, the picture is too dark, it did not turn out well at all - my hair was red - a dark red... and I had used a curling iron to straighten out some of those curls I have...


and yeah, the lighting does suck. I never claimed to be a photographer!


Here is the color it is today:
Lingering effects of red in it..


So, what is the point? Well, I'm about to do it again. If it turns out decent, I may post some pictures later. But you all know how much I dislike putting my pictures on here anyway.


I was just ... bored. But, no, I didn't feel like posting all the other pictures I have and need to post. Someday...

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

My Birthday

OK, so.. I went back to last years posts to see if I set any kind of goals for myself on my last birthday - but.. no, I did not. Good thing, though, because I do not think they would have been accomplished with the year I have had.

While I have tried to keep my blog funny and upbeat, I realized after reading through the last year of it, that it's not really a true telling of our lives. But.. who wants to remember the bad stuff, right? Anyway, I have thought about whether I should put the bad stuff on here or not and decided against it. It is so much more fun to write funny stuff! :)

So, I'm 34 today. I think the "goals" I have set for myself in the past were with a time frame of 35 years old. Now I only have a year left to accomplish these goals. I better get started. :)

One thing I am trying to accomplish is to rid my life of useless "stuff" that I have accumulated over the years and never really did anything with it. I have dishes / baking supplies / scrap booking stuff / CDs / books / all kinds of things that I like, but I simply do not want them taking up space in my house any longer. And yes, I am getting rid of a lot of my cake pans. I have accumulated so many over the years that I have made cakes and I just do not want them any longer.

I need to have a sale of some sort, but to do that I need to take the time to sort it all out. That is what I am hoping to accomplish with the remaining days this week.

Allie's birthday is Friday, too, so that is another thing I have to prepare for. :) Oh, and I will have more pictures taken that will be "waiting in line" for me to post. *sigh* I really need to remember to upload them when I am at home sometime.

Hope everyone has a happy 4th of July (Independence Day!!) tomorrow!

Monday, July 02, 2007

Hearing and Comprehension...

First of all, I have so many pictures from various activities that I need to post, but... I just haven't gotten around to it. :) Jeff took the kids to the Butterfly show in Cincinnati a few weeks ago. I will get around to the pics soon.

Last Wednesday they didn't do much of anything due to various appointments that day. Ceara with the dentist and Jeff with an eye doctor - he needs new glasses because his broke on the side and he, uh.. said something about not wanting to look like a geek anymore. As if new glasses could help that. (grin) :) Anyway, he actually had tape on them to hold them together after one of the screws fell out. Then, after the tape failed, he used a safety pin to hold the ear piece on. So, anyway, on that day, he was going to the store. I have been wanting to get one of those small, blue, plastic pools for Conor to play in when it is really hot outside - but I didn't want anything big because I didn't want the grass to die, and because I already tried that once. Between the kids and the dogs, that one didn't last long. Since one of those little pools will not fit in my car.. and Jeff had the truck.. I asked him to pick one up while he was there. Here is the conversation:

Me: "Hey, why don't you pick up one of those little pools. The ones that are plastic - you know the hard blue plastic ones?"

Jeff: "How will I get it to stay in the back of the truck?"

Me: "I don't know. Put something on it.. I can't fit one in my car. I saw them at Kroger's for $14 so if you can't find one at the store you are going to, I'll just go get one there. Or if you can't figure out how to tie it down somehow, I'll get it later. I just keep forgetting."

Jeff: "OK."

So.. later that day I get a call from Jeff. Here is that conversation:

Jeff: "I got a pool - it's an inflatable one that has a filter and everything. It was only $50."

Me: "What? Are you kidding me? Did you hear the part where I specifically said that I wanted one of the small, blue, plastic ones?"

Jeff: "Yeah, but.. this one is cool. And it was in a box so I didn't have to worry about it in the back of the truck."

Me: "Well the last one I got like that just ended up being trash and it is going to get torn up. It will also kill our grass. I wanted a small one so I could move it around."

Jeff: "This one is small."

Me: "What are the dimensions?"

Jeff: "I don't know, but it's not that big. On the picture it shows about 4 people in it."

Me: "But it is an inflatable one. With a filter. You're taking care of it if you keep it. YOU are changing the filter and keeping it clean."

Jeff: "Well, you want me to take it back?"

Me: "Yes. And get the little one."

I get home and look at the box. The picture has about 6 people in the "little" pool and it is 8 feet around by 3 feet deep. No, that is not "big" by pool standards. But if I wanted to swim I would go to my dad's house. I just wanted something for Conor to "cool off" in on hot days.

Jeff: "See, it's not that bad."

Me: "I don't want it. If you put it up, you are doing all the upkeep on it."

Jeff: "Well, the kids like it. Ceara even said she was glad we got it so she could get in too. I'll just have her do it." (Beware Ceara! :))

blah, blah... so, this pool is still at my house. In the box - sitting in the living room. Conor keeps asking for it to be put up.. and I keep saying, "Tell your daddy."

I think Jeff is waiting for me to give in and accept it. That is not going to happen. :)