Nicholas's Birthday

Here it is in all its glory!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Caroline's 7th Birthday

Here it is in all it's glory!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Kitchen FINALLY!!

After five months I can finally do the reveal for our kitchen remodel. We still have some paint touch-ups to do where they pulled out our old countertop and scratched the new paint. And we have to put beadboard under the chair rail behind the kitchen table and the microwave station to cover up the old wallpaper.

I am very pleased with the way it turned out. So without further adeiu, here is our new kitchen.

We painted the cabinets white and put on new custom made doors and new hardware. We painted under the cabinets an olive green and replaced the 1968 white countertop with a granite looking formica.

Not real sure what is on the windowsill. It is amazing that after you live with something sitting there for a while you don't even see it anymore. We used to have four small, shallow drawers between the refridge and the dishwasher and we combined the two bottom drawers and made one big deep one. That is now where we keep bread and snacks that used to sit on top of the counter. I am loving that drawer.

And no photo shoot can't be without a lovely model!

Here is a close up of the counter top and the color of the wall. The countertop has some browns in it too but it just didn't show up well here. Also the feel of the counter isn't smooth. It is bumpy like stone would be. I love it.

And finally the other side of the kitchen. We love the little table that Katy gave us. The beadboard will go under the chairrail where the plaid wallpaper is and the walls are freshly painted a nice dark golden color. Excuse the mess on that side of the kitchen.

So there you have it. Our new kitchen

Oh so quickly you forget! Here is the old way.

At the River

We love the river. We so love the river. We love the people who are here at the river with us too, which are the neighbors and friends we have me at our campground. We just finished up at the potluck dinner where everyone brings a dish and the campground provides music (tonight from an ipod hooked to the sound system), BBQ sandwiches, and beer. VERY NICE. We brought steamed veggies and there was everything from lazagne to mac and cheese to apple sauce and strawberry shortcake! YUM. So we arrive and it is so nice to here 'hey Sears family, what did you bring?' and we sat with our friends here. They are the nicest four other couples who are always here and all are the age of our parents. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but just saying of all the people we have met in the past year we connect with the older folks. Everyone else came and left in 45 minutes time but we all sat a talked and talked and one of the ladies asked Nicholas if he wanted to play catch with her and she and him walked over to the clearing and threw the baseball around a bit. What nice people!!

This morning was the craft show and there were seven other vendors besides myself and Allie who sold her girl scout cookies. She did well (Allie) and sold most all of them. However it was hard for her to sit in one place for four hours. So to reward herself she bought herself a new pair of fancy flipflops from one of the ladies here. They are fuzzy on the strap made with fun fur. They are purple!

I did well for a slow day. There were three other ladies who were selling jewelry. One lady was a rep for a jewelry company like premier but not them. Another lady was selling sparkly bracelets and necklaces that she crochets the crystals on silk thread. Very interesting and pretty. Then another one, an older lady who is an odd duck was selling some bracelets along with her other crochet blankets, doilies, washclothes etc, that she sells. She priced hers high and I don't think she sold much at all. In the past she bugs the mess out of me at these shows because she, while she is nice, she wants to trade stuff. Well, I crochet the same things that she does and I really don't want much of anything that she has, but she wants what I have. Like last year she LOVED my zucchini pickles and she wanted three jars and she wanted to trade. Well I couldn't come up with enough stuff that I wanted from her and then I felt guilty that I couldn't trade with her so I just picked stuff and then she wanted to trade some more stuff and I had a really hard time telling her I didn't want to trade. It was horrible for my psyche if you know what I mean. Okay back to the craft show.. .....So I sold beaded bracelets, necklaces,and earrings all for $5 each. Then I had my hairbows, dog pull toys and handmade card sets and the funny pencil toppers. I sold no card sets but everything else I sold some. I think I sold 8 or so pencil toppers, 8 or 9 pieces of jewelry and 5 or so hairbows. Oh and 6 or so dog pull toys.

The next craft show is in two weeks and I want to make a bunch more bracelets and finish off what I have of the fleece for dog toys. Last year I sold dog biscuits, canned pickles, relish, and fleece blankets and scarves when it got chilly in the fall. The other ladies sell sewn projects like wine glass cozzies, jar toppers, fabric wreaths, and crocheted blankets and washcloths, booties, bonnets, etc. And the flipflops. So I am wondering what might be a big hit around here. Help me out. I need some ideas on something that would be fun to sell that everyone would want one around here.

Dying Easter Eggs

Here is a video slide show for you of us dying easter eggs. Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

ANother funny for you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJwgP44Ap9E&feature=related

I don't know how to make it show up here but go watch it.

A funny for you!

Nuf said!

Nobody loves me...

...everybody hates me. I think I'll go and eat some worms.

That is how I am feeling. I know some people read these silly little posts but no one except the rare occasion when my sister comments, I get no love. Come on people give me some love here.

Okay, okay, here is some bait for you:

Okay more later.....now leave me so love! Please don't make me beg for it.

Time for a funny.

Okay I need a funny so I figured you might need a chuckle too.

My power element!

Your Power Element is Fire

Your power color: red Your energy: hot Your season: spring Like a fire, you are full of power and light. A born leader, you easily draw people toward you. You are full of courage and usually up for anything dangerous. You have a huge ego and love to be the center of attention.

What's" Your Power Element?

Gotta love random quizzes!! Not so sure about the HUGE ego it says... but it is random....

News from the homefront

Without further adeiu, here is Anchorman Kenneth.



I love him!!

So you can't make an announcement like that and not follow through with it.


The kids had a great time and I will post more pictures later. Allie isn't in the video. Did you notice? On the way over to the hill she fell and got snow all down the inside of her jacket and pretty much was done so she came back in and played the Wii with Mamaw. Beat the pants off her...

It's SNOWING!!!

FINALLY! I can't tell you how excited I am about the snow we are getting. They are calling for 3-7 inches and they say that we are closer to the higher end of that estimate where we live. WOO HOO!!

I peeked outside a few minutes ago and snapped a few photos.

Here is Caroline's barefeet prints. She stepped out to check out the snow. Gotta love that crunch of freezing snow between your toes!! HA ha...

Honestly, she doesn't remember any kind of "major" snow like we are getting tonight. She was 2 1/2 for the last storm that we could go sledding in. And while she says she remembers, she really doesn't. So this is very exciting to her.

Today I went out to see if I could find some snow boots for Nicholas and Caroline. We have one pair of Nicholas' old ones and they fit Alexandra but the other two didn't have any. WHAT was I thinking? The promise of snow and all of Richmond goes out in full force. I take Caroline with me and we head to Walmart. Us and half the rest of town too! We got there and were lucky to get a cart. We took the one of the last three they had available. Caroline hops in and we head for the shoe department. I start checking up and down the aisles and finally find where they have the last of the boots. I also find fifteen other families doing the SAME thing that I was doing. UGH. I call Kenneth on the cell and ask him to start calling around. He calls me back and says that Nordstroms over in Short Pump has boots for $49.95 and somewhere else had them for $34.95. NO! I am not spending that much for a pair of boots that they may wear one time. So I decide to head to Target. He calls back and suggests we go to the Goodwill. So Caroline and I get to the Goodwill and we totally lucked out! We found a pair of boots for Caroline, a pair for Allie for next year and a pair for Nicholas. The only ones that even looked worn were Caroline's. Nicholas's had the tags still on them and Allie's were Land's End brand and not worn at all. I looked around a bit more and found another pair for Mom and a pair of slippers for her too. Then we found a pair of slippers for Caroline (new) and a pair of bucks for Nicholas that may have been worn once inside. I felt like Michelle Duggar buying used and saving the difference. So here is the tally:

Nicholas's boots: $26.99 Champion brand--- bought for $6.00

Caroline's boots: unknown retail---bought for $6.00

Allie's boots: $29.50 retail Lands End---bought for $3.00

Mom's boots: (est) $35.00 Tote's brand---bought for $7.00

Mom's slippers: unknown retail---$3.00

Caroline's slippers: (est) $9.99---bought for $3.00

Nicholas's bucks: $49.99 stride rite---bought for $3.00

So retail total for what we know: $151.47

Total purchase price: $31.00 !!!

A difference of: $120.47

How sweet of a deal. We also bought a pair of snowbibs and a doggie sweater too. The bibs were $4.99 and the doggie sweater was $4.48.

So here is Annabelle has dressed for the occasion!

Oh, did I tell you that school is cancelled for tomorrow? Yeah it is and thank goodness because I have a feeling it is going to be a late night trying to get these kids asleep in anticipation of tomorrow and sledding and bulding a snowman.

Pinewood Derby Districts!

The first thing that happened is I spotted the family who cheated last year. They were working on their car and getting it all set to turn in. Graphiting the axles, etc. So they take their car over and for some reason I hit the record button. Oh, go ahead and see for yourself. You can't hear anything but you can see the man in the sweater vest (the dad) and the two officials inspecting the car. Notice what the officials do and their body language. Kenneth and Nicholas are checking in Kenneth's car for the Dad's race (in the background).

You saw that ,right? They gave the car back to them to work on some more. Something about the axles. The dad then went back out to their car and brought in more supplies. I suppose they were axles. They took the car apart and replaced the axles. We finally left that room and moved into the "race room".

Here are all the cars for the Weeblos I race. The car all the way in the back on the right is the cheaters' car. He must have passed the initial inspection finally. Nicholas's car is the third from the bottom on the right with all the little holes in it. They flip the cars upside down so they don't injure the axles or harm the car in any way before the race. It is interesting to look at the cars from the bottom because you can tell where they put the weights and what weights they use. So then the racing begins! Nicholas's car (green one) wins every race except two towards the end. The track had a fast lane (the one on the right) and it truly came down to which lane you were in at the end to determine the winner. We were lucky and got the faster lane on the last race and .....
Oh yeah, Kenneth came in third in the Dad's race!

He got a trophy and everything!!

Okay, back to Nicholas.......


Yup! He won FIRST PLACE!

They pulled the winners' cars apart and inspected them to make sure they weren't cheating. The cheaters came in 4th and they were anxious to see if anyone was disqualified. No one was and one inspector told Nicholas he could have polished his axles just a bit more, ha ha. But everything checked out just fine.

Here are the boys with their trophies:

Annabelle wants to say hello

So here she is. She wanted to get on the computer but her dew claws hindered her from typing so I told her I would do it for her.

She says that she was happy to have that dog visit but is happy to have woken up this afternoon from her nap to find that he was gone. Yes there are remnants of him still around. A smell here, some hair there. But he is nowhere to be found. It is nice to have the house back.

He had to go back...

We did some more research and we think that Ranger possibly was a mix with a shephard and possibly wolf. Not first generation but maybe second. Anyway, he head butted mom when she got in his face and we just couldn't risk him possibly doing that with one of the kids' friends or a neighbor. So he went back to the farm where he came from. Poor guy. He would make a great pet for a family without little kids. But he wasn't for us. He did become pretty loyal to us quickly and Kenneth said he didn't want to get out of the truck when he was returned and he kept trying to get back in the truck to go home with Kenneth. The owner said that he was known for his head butting. Wonder why he hadn't told us that before?

Oh well. It was a good try and he was a pretty dog. VERY tall. He could put his nose on our countertop.

I am sure that Annabelle will be glad to not be sharing her space with anyone, however she was a trooper!!

Ranger

So, let's just start with the end. Here he is:

We had discussed getting another dog and we wanted a dog that would look a bit threatening and would bark a big bark when people come to the house. You know, just in case. So Kenneth was looking on the internet and found "free to a good home" and called about it. It happened quickly, within a day, and before we were really ready but we have him now.

"Ranger" is 3 years old and doesn't know his name. He has been on a farm for a while and was a son's pet until that son couldn't keep him any longer. So the dog went to the son's dad's house and they have too many dogs so Ranger had to go. He has a great disposition. He is gentle with the kids and is very laid back. Oh, did I tell you he has a pretty big bark? Yup, he does.

I forgot to tell you. HE'S HUGE!! He is shepard mix with we think Great Dane... Here he is next to Kenneth.

And next to Caroline:

For all those who knew Fred, he is about the same size as Fred. Maybe just a bit taller. He really reminds me of Fred. His disposition and all. AND the hair!!!

I have been Xed out!

On Thursday I told the kids all individually, as it worked out that way, that we would be going to Mamaw's house for her birthday on Friday evening. When I told Caroline she was all excited, until I added that she had to wear a dress. Well, I just deflated her balloon then! She got upset, refused to put one on and stomped off. I continued to do laundry as I had been when we were having this conversation. A little while later, Caroline returns with this note to me. She looks up at me with her big hazel eyes and hands me the note, not saying one word. I immediately recognize that it is her attempt at cutting out a heart and that it is folded up. I assume it is an apology note. But not so. I open it to find THIS!!!

Let me decypher the photo for you. First it is a heart shaped blue paper. She cut it out herself. Second, the person on the left is clearly me. I have long hair, a smile on my face and I am wearing a dress and shoes. The man on the right is clearly a man, wearing pants. It is Kenneth. We can tell by the smile on his face the short, small head and the ONE eye!! To a stranger it would look like I am married to a cyclopse crossed with Edward Scissorhands but as I am an expert at analyzing Caroline's artwork it is clearly Kenneth. Notice we are holding hands too. Third, the person (that would be me) is Xed out! See the big X cutting through my body? Yup, I have been Xed out. Kenneth has a check by his picture. He is still okay in her book.

Now, I stood there looking at it and looking at her looking at me with her big hazel eyes, and I pondered what I should do. Clearly she was waiting for a reaction and the longer I stood there she was showing signs that maybe she would get into trouble for this. But she was standing her ground. NO DRESS!

So what would you do in this situation? would you start yelling at her? Would you get down on her level and explain to her why it was important for her to wear a dress to the party? Would you just hand the note back and tell her you were not accepting a note like this?

All of those options came to mind. But I chose option number 4. CRY. Yup, cry. I started to cry and I hoped and prayed I could pull it off and actually make some tears. It happened I truly started crying and making tears. She didn't know what to do. She stood there for a minute looking up at me and then she hugged me. And then she told me that she was sorry. I told her that I was so upset and sad because I would never ever ever X her out of my heart and that I was so upset that she could so easily X me out of hers. That no matter how mad she made me or how bad she was she was never Xed out of my heart and that I would love her always (remind me of this conversation when she is caught skipping curfew with a boyfriend when she is a teenager okay?) and that I was so sad and hurt that just because it was Mamaw's birthday and we were going to a party and that I told her that she had to wear a dress that she could just X me out.

She told me then that she still loved me but she wasn't going to wear the dress.

Pinewood Derby

Here is his car this year. He named it "Stinger" for the hornet stickers he put on it.

Here he is with his car.

Here he is after he got his pin for winning against his den (which only consists of him and one other child.)

So after the den race he then races against his whole pack (the top two who win in their den move to the pack race). In past years, Nicholas has won or come in second in his den and then not done well in the pack race. He has NEVER placed first second or third in the pack races.

This is a picture of him about half way through the pack races and he is winning each race his car is in. He is starting to realize that he could win the whole thing this year. No other cars are coming close!
Nicholas won!! He won for his den and in the whole pack. He won the biggest trophy he has ever received too.

And here he is with his biggest trophy ever!

Yay! Nicholas!!! We are now off to District Finals where the top two kids from each den in each pack go to race against each other. In past years Nicholas's car has been about middle of the group. Last year he came in 5th and he received a certificate. The winner of the group was disqualified and there was a big mess with that. This year I think we could have a chance to get higher in the standings. We can't wait.