Foto Story Friday #90-- Nature's Mud Flaps

Sometimes it is interesting what nature creates. We have had quite a bit of snow round here and it gets rather cold so when the temp rises to the high 20's, things start to melt and we run around with our coats open or off cause, it feels like a heat wave! In the midst of all of this tiny drops of water dripping from the vehicles make the most interesting "natural" mud flaps!
Front tire flaps.
Rear mud flaps.
Over the tire top flaps.
Look outside the box!

Hosted by Cecily

Foto Story Friday #89-- Milestones

We have passed another milestone here:
This is the cupboard above the sink in the bathroom. It has recently had an addition to it. What you might ask? Well, another stick of deodorant was placed on the shelf. Top shelf holds Troy's and mine, bottom shelf holds Shantel and Savanna's and the middle shelf is home to the boys, Cody and Robby. Yep that's right Robby, my 4th grader, has joined the ranks of deodorant wearers.
This is his. Gotta keep them all straight, everyone has their own flavor and brand, so there are no mix-ups.
Now, I really need to tell the story of how we came to this point. A few weeks back, Robby was getting ready to attend a city council meeting with his Grandpa and Cody where they were going to recognize the 100th year of scouting. All the boys, both cubs and boy scouts, were to attend in uniform, present the colors and receive the recognition. Robby was putting his scout shirt on,, in the dining room of all places and as he was buttoning up, he said: "Wow! my armpits stink!" After the fits of laughter passed through the house, I told him it was about time we got him some deodorant ..... next time we got paid. It was all he could talk about and he just didn't understand why I couldn't take him right then to the store after some. Every so often, he would ask about going to get some but was having trouble remembering what it was called and would say: "Mom, when are we going to go get me some detergent?" Which, of course, would send the house into fits of laughter again. Finally, I was able to fulfill his wishes and Sunday morning after his shower he got to apply his first layer of deodorant! Oh wait, let me back up a bit, Saturday night he asked when you put it on and how much to use. I told him after his shower and a few swipes should do him. So, Sunday morning rolls around and he goes in to shower only to come out of the bathroom in a bit of a panic cause he can't find his deodorant. I calmly explained that it was above the sink and all was well.
After 3 hours of church we came home to change clothes and head over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner and he proudly announced to anyone within hearing that his armpits still smelled good! Guess he's sure!


Hosted by Cecily

foto story #88--New cake pans

A few weeks ago, we were headed out to run some errands and the mailman had a large box that needed signing for. We were curious as to the contents, neither on of us had ordered anything from Amazon and we could see that it came from there. Troy quickly slit it open and we found a football shaped cake pan inside. Troy, looking puzzled, dug through the box in search of the receipt. I, on the other hand, knew that it must be from Aunt Claudia and the receipt confirmed it.
A few days later, another large box arrived and 4 more shaped pans were inside! We will have plenty of choices for the next birthdays or just any ole day for cool cakes!
Troy was dying for a football cake and set to work on it.
He did a great job and it tasted wonderful.

Thanks again Aunt Claudia for the surprises in the mail! We will enjoy all the fun new shapes.


Hosted by Cecily

Foto Story Friday #87--baby photo shoot

About a week ago my friend had her baby. So for fun, I went over on Monday and we had a little photo shoot. Well the only way to learn is to do, right? So here is a small sampling of the photos I took:
Mother and Child.
Mirrors are pretty cool. I wondered around the house looking for props, every time I passed this sign, I thought I should see how I could use it.
Gotta love the chance to edit the photo for a different feel.
A little princess.
Sitting at less than a week old! Her mom was standing ready to catch her. At nearly 1 week she was very alert, we worked on this for close to 2 hours and she was wide awake the whole time.

Tiny little hands
and precious little feet. Saw the rings on the toes idea and I had to give it a try.
Sweet kisses of a mother.

Hosted by Cecily

Foto Story Friday #86-- my wrestler

This year my son, Cody, decided to join a sport. The first sport he has ever been in! OK truth be told, he did try out this sport once long ago..... way back in 2nd grade. Several times he would come home and say he was thinking about trying say track or maybe football, but he never actually went through with it, so we were a little skeptical, but supportive. He continued to talk about it and we went to the parent meeting, got all the info and the following day went down and bought wrestling shoes.
Wrestling shoes are not cheap, but he forked over the dough. When you pay for something it means a little more I think. He practiced and came home SO tired but excited about this move he'd learned or this take down method.
We live in the boonies and many weekends they are on the road traveling anywhere from 1 to 6 hours for a meet. They have had 3 home meets, but the first two were on the same nights as some of the other kids' Christmas music events and so we were forced to split up and support everyone. We did make the hour trip to a meet .... the bus broke down about 20 miles outside of the destination! We pulled up behind them and I snapped this photo.
The first match I was able to see. Cody is in black. Notice the hands? Cody is left handed and he thinks it's funny to shake with the left.... it's his sike maneuver!
It was a quick match.
The day before, when I wasn't able to be there, he got his one and only pin! He was SO excited when he called home to tell us! I only wish I had seen it :(
For each pin they get the coach gives them a gold pin to put in a place of honor.... in Cody's case that is on his backpack!
Tonight was their last home meet and 2nd to last meet of the season. He wrestled hard.
Proving that he has learned a lot and come a long way since the season started.
He has a good attitude and knows that if he keeps up with it, he will continue to improve. Here he is fighting hard to escape.
I can see the determination, he is thinking of how he would like to get up and out of this.
He came close to a pin here. He lasted the whole 3 periods and lost on points. We were SO proud of him! This was the first time he made it the whole time and was not pinned! :)
This was his second match of the evening at whistle blow and it's game on!
Fighting to get free. he made it to the second period and was pinned but he wrestled hard and we are so very proud of his achievement and the growth he has experienced being a part of this team and learning this sport!



Hosted by Cecily

Foto Story Friday #85-- January Birthdays

The beginning of January brought Shantel's birthday.
We only have a couple of shaped cake pans, and I'm not cool enough to just create an awesome cake. Shantel decided she would have a PoohBear cake for her 14th birthday. We made the frosting and Cody, Shantel and I chose a color and decorated it all together. It was fun. I'll let you guess who did which color.
After dinner and Grandma and Grandpa's we had cake and now she awaits her gifts. She designed a pair of Chuck Taylors which should be arriving any day.
2 weeks later it was Robby's turn to pick a cake pan. He went for the Mickey Mouse one. While he did his dishes, I frosted and decorated the cake.
Not too bad considering we used the left over frosting from Shantels and attempted to get acceptable colors.
Make a wish, Robby! He awaits his gifts as well. He designed a pair of custom Etnies. They will take 6-8 weeks to arrive.
Next birthday is in May!
P.S. Look what just arrived:
Shantel is one happy custom sky-top owning girl!


Hosted by Cecily

Foto Story Friday #84-- new floor

Back in November, on a Saturday, we decided to rip up the carpeting in the dining room. Did we have the new floor to put down? NO, but we were tired of the carpeting, so we just did it!
(I must admit, that Shantel took several of these pictures.) Troy and I ripping up that dang carpet. It was very hard and You should have seen the blisters we grew because it! :)
Miss Toughy thought she could do it all by herself..... turns out it was a bit harder than she thought!
Course Scott had to get in on the action!
Everyone helped in this project. Fighting over the various scraping utensils. Ice scrapers,
shovels,
and even putty knives-- which work really well for removing that stubborn glued over linoleum.
Finally this past weekend, we got to work on the re-flooring.
Looks nice, yes?! 13 boxes to go.

First off get the edging down.........
Boy these beginning rows took FOREVER, how many more do we have left?
Measure cut, fit, measure again.... cut again and finally it fits! :)
Progress! it's nearly 5 PM and we still have SO much left! We finished the dining area and left the last bit for Monday.
Success! By 3 Monday afternoon we were finally done! The kitchen
the dining room!
Course every muscle in my body was so sore I could hardly move..... I was not alone in the pain department, Troy and his dad were dead, their poor knees!

Hosted by Cecily