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.

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! :)

Happy Birthday, Allie!

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

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...

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!

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. :)

Karaoke

On Wednesday night, my boss (Dave) invited me as well as a few others to join him and his wife at a local Buffalo Wild Wings for some fun and Karaoke. One of the other people to come was Joe - I always think of Joe as Dave's boss; sometimes he is, sometimes he isn't. :) Anyway, Joe was the only one of us who was planning to actually get up and sing, so I took along my digital camera to get it on video. He also brought his sons, and two of them got up there to sing as well. So, I am posting the videos here so that I can share it with some of our fellow coworkers... Enjoy. :)

You will hear the hecklers (Dave and John) in the back ground...

This one is of Joe doing The River by Garth Brooks:





Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos


This is of Joe and Carter doing Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison:




Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

And here is Alex doing Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi:




Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

I would say a whole lot of nice things about Joe, but.. I want him to be able to fit his head in the door when he comes to work. :) Besides, he already knows he is good.

Our trip to North Carolina

The kids and I went on a trip to Holden Beach, NC at the beginning of June. There were a total of 6 adults and 6 kids that went on the trip - My aunts: Betty and Maggie; my Mom; my cousin Andy, his wife Missy, and their kids Mason and Grant; my cousin Jonathan; Allie, Ceara, Conor, and me. We rented two mini vans for the trip.

We left on Saturday, June 2nd, at 3AM. Or.. we tried to. I had stayed up all night, knowing that I would not be able to wake up and be functional at 2AM, so I figured I would take the first shift of sleep. I was at my mom's house with the kids asleep in the back of the van to pick her up at about 2:45AM. For someone who normally runs behind schedule, I was doing very well. :) My mom, who had to get up at 4am for work every day, and is always on time or early, had just woken up when I arrived! I found this to be a quite funny role reversal. Mom had just retired from her job - her last day was May 31.

It did not take her long to get ready, though. She had already had all of her things packed and by the door. Getting everything into the van was a bit of a challenge since the kids had made beds in there and put away all but one of the seats in the back. We managed to find a place for everything and we went to meet the other van at grandma's house (next door to my mom's) so that we could travel to Lebanon to pick Maggie up.

On the way there, we got a phone call from the other van and Missy had forgotten her purse, so they had to turn around and go back to get it. We went on to Maggie's house since she was riding with us, so that we could get her things put into our van while we waited.

I think we were on the road from Lebanon at about 4:30AM. I went to sleep (or tried to) in the back of the van in the only seat remaining. I woke up often to the sound of mom and Maggie laughing at whatever story they were telling. I remember hearing some of the stories and laughing too, but I was 1/2 asleep and don't really remember any of what was being said. The seat was EXTREMELY uncomfortable to try to sleep in. I tossed and turned.. at one point I looked over at the kids and Ceara was awake as well, and she offered to switch me places. She was having problems sleeping on the floor. So.. we switched. Then I had a metal hook that the seats hooked to digging into my hip. So, needless to say, I did not sleep well. We stopped somewhere along the lines to get breakfast and use the bathrooms and switch drivers.

Conor asked every 20 minutes if we were almost there.. lol He did pretty well for the long trip, though. By the end of the drive, we were all anxious to be there.

We arrived at the beach house at 5PM. It was raining a bit and the kids asked if they could go in the water even though it was raining, so we all went down to the beach and waded into the ocean a bit. The kids actually got in, but not too far. The tide was very strong. We did not stay down there too long because we had to unpack the vans.

We all got our room assignments and took our luggage to our rooms. Mom, Conor, and I shared a bedroom with our own bathroom - and an exit to the upper deck on the ocean side. The view was awesome.

Our first night there, we ordered pizza. No one felt like going to the grocery after that long drive, so we just got delivery.

Here is Ceara - she got her hair cut and layered before we left on vacation - it looks very good . :) It was very windy most of the days, but it felt really good. Being that close to the ocean, there was a salty haze on everything - the windows the most noticable. My sunglasses got a salty haze on them very often as did my camera. So.. some of the pictures appear a bit hazy. Also, with my being injured (see info below) the kids took most of the pictures. I did hobble down to the beach towards the end of the week and take a couple of movies (below) and some pictures as well. :) I have some funny stories to post about our trip, but thought I should go ahead and post the pictures for now. And yeah.. incorrect dates on the pics!

Conor and Mason playing in the sand along the shoreline.

Maggie took a chair down from the deck and tried to talk me into sitting in it in the water.. I refused because it was not exactly steady and I didn't even want to try to get out of the ocean with my knee in the condition that it was in. I am glad I didn't.. you will see from the videos below how it worked out for Maggie when the waves came in.... :)

Digging more holes in the sand.

The kids playing miniature golf. (Ceara, Conor, and Jonathan above)

Ceara, Jonathan, and Allie.

Posing on the Alligator. From front to back: Conor, Mason, Jonathan, Ceara, Allie.
I wish I could remember what they were saying!

Here is the view of the houses from the pier. Mom, Allie, Ceara, Jonathan, and Conor walked to it one day.

Jonathan, Ceara, Mom, and Conor on the pier. Allie was the photographer... :)

Conor and Mason blowing bubbles on the deck.

Grant and Conor watching the bubbles flying off the deck towards the ocean.

Ceara and Allie posing for a picture. Hey.. the expression and the hand signs are the "IN" thing to do! :)

On the way home, the injured person (me) got to sit on the back bench seat, while the kids made a bed on the remaining floor space. We slept as much as we could. Above, Ceara is reading Conor one of his favorite books - "I'll Teach My Dog 100 Words"


And Allie had her nose in her own book most of the trip.

Some of the pictures that were taken did not turn out at all - I don't know if it was the salt messing with my camera, or what, but they were either total blue haze with the faint outline of people in them, or they were completely white pictures. Just strange.

We rented bikes as well, and the kids went for bike rides often. I couldn't go.. but.. they did. :)