How it's Going

This is how it's going so far...
Kay can't get on the Internet
Kay hit the snot out of her head first thing today
J, her boy, got hit in the nose with a baseball
All of the kids played "Twister" and no one got hurt!
The van is fixed, and my Hubby is going to do the tune-up tomorrow
We had a good lunch and dinner
And, as of this time, the night is still young and the kids are back outside with a ball, so someone still has time to get injured.
Plans to catch firefly's
Plans to roast marshmallows (not tonight)
Plans to go eat out somewhere
And I plan to go to bed early tonight...right :)
Oh, and an interesting side note... My bird Koko likes Kay! Hmmm!

Flowers and Flags

I see the flowers and flags... being placed inside the yard

Silent memory...quiet voices

I see them guarding the dead

I see the old man kneeling

Pulling weeds from the flowers and flags

I see the tears he doesn't want to shed

For the loss and for the dead

I see the small child standing

Among the flowers and flags

Wondering why Grandpa is crying

Wondering why he is sad

Today the sun is shining

Today good food will be had

Just don't forget the reason

For all of the flowers and flags

Thirteen Blessings on Thursday

Loving Husband

Wonderful Children

Parents that are nearly perfect..nearly :)

Cats that use the litter box

Only one parrot

A nice house

Cars that run

A sister that is also a friend

Extended family that would do anything if needed

A vivid imagination

Work that amuses me

Love of reading

All of my fingers and toes

Odd Julie

As a child, I used to have to climb through the wash room window when we got locked out of the house. Now I probably couldn't even put my head through the window. It was a side open window with a weird handle.
I have been know to push all of my sisters many, many buttons...a lot, and often, and than to run and hide. :) (like that worked, I always thought if she killed me she would get in trouble..maybe)
I collect knives, and yet I am afraid of cutting myself.
I can imitate many musical instruments, and some people.
I have to count telephone poles while riding in a car, or driveways, or trees, or birds, or whatever.
I once had a girl from my mom's church convinced that I could tell the difference between the different colored M&M's ( I was almost 30). I had a streak going. Oh yes, I'm that good.
I carried a pocket knife and a rubber tarantula in my purse as a child. Her name was Charlotte. (the spider not the knife..I don't remember the knifes name).
I am so good at using "puppy dog eyes" that I have voluntarily banned myself from using them. The power is too much for one person.
I hum at work.
I whistle for my kids (and husband). They know my whistle, and obey. LOL!!! Right!
At least once a week I crack myself up so much that I laugh out loud.
I ask strangers if their piercings hurt.
Or tattoos,
Or where they got their hair done...red, frosted,freaky, you know...
Okay...quick story..I was saying something once to my hubby and he said "If your trying to make me feel guilty it's not working" I said, "if I were trying to make you feel guilty...you would" He didn't think so, so I started to tell him what I was saying before, and laying it on, and he said "fine!" And started to go do it, and I said "I was making you feel guilty and you did!" I laughed and so did he, I know how to use the guilt trip...my mommy taught me that one. :) With love of course.
Now share at least one odd thing about you.
Remember to keep it clean...you know who you are.

Tight, tight, tight!

Things are hard all over! I see on the news a family that the husband works a full time job while the wife works three part time jobs. One job pays the utilities, one pays the mortgage, and the other buys groceries. I don't remember what the husband's job pays for, maybe bills. Anyway, they have two small children and she just found out she is pregnant again. They don't know what they will do, but seemed hopeful. This is back East, so I imagine that the financial crunch must be tighter in a larger city.

Here things are also tight. The gas and grocery prices are rising, and the salaries seem to be the same. But I am thankful for something now that I used to be unthankful for (much to my shame), I am married to a very tight man. I mean that in the way that he doesn't just spend money...he doesn't just let me spend money (why I was unthankful perhaps?). We have switched our lights to the energy saving bulbs about four years ago...long before it was the style. We run our bath water into a bucket until it gets warm and use it to water plants (strawberries and such) instead of letting it go down the drain. We are frugal with our lights, and air conditioning, and I use a clothes line. In the winter I can hang the clothes on hangers and they dry over night because our house is a balmy 87...we use a wood furnace that lives in our garage, and vents into our house (we all help chop wood during the summers...something to see actually). I also am always using coupons and have been on a grocery allowance, although I push that sometimes. :) So, God has taken care of me and my children by making my husband a tight man with his money. Things are still difficult, but not quite so bad for us right now. I know things can get better or worse, but I am thankful that I have been in training for almost 8 years now for the hard times. People always say what they would do if they won the lottery. We would probably get new carpet, build a sun room, but I doubt it would be spent without thought.

Favorite Toy #1

One of my most favorite toys growing up was a little Barbi-ish doll and farm set. She was not as large as a Barbi...kinda a skipper size, and had long red hair. Had a little house on the prairie type dress and a bow in her hair. I don't remember her name, but I loved her. I was around 8 when I got her for Christmas. She came with a buckboard wagon, a little pony(no moving parts on the pony), picnic basket with food,bales of plastic hay, farm animals-chickens and chicks...ducks and ducklings...rooster...food for the picnic basket...apples...bread...cups...plates...all kinds of stuff. Stuff, stuff stuff! And it was all connected on large plastic thingamajig that you had to pop all of them apart one at a time-like an airplane model. Wonderful stuff! The first night (Christmas Eve) I think I lost some dishes. She also had a barn to put together. That doll and pony and wagon packed up and un-loaded quite a bit, and each time I think I lost something. Finally, after about a year or two, I just had the doll, wagon, and pony. So sad! As a grown up one day, I was digging in some of my Mom's junk at home and found a baby chick!! I nearly cried! That was the best toy I had ever had, and probably the most regretted by my Mom. (farm animals everywhere :))

So! If your child has a toy that is messy and gets lost all the time...safe bet is that it's a favorite.

Thirteen Thursday

Thirteen things I want (ed ) to be when I grow up

I "borrowed" this idea from my sister.

1.I want to be an artist

2. I want to be a poet/writer

3. I want to be independently wealthy

4.I want to be able to speak Spanish, Navajo, Italian, and French

5. I (when a child) wanted to grow up to be a genie or a witch (from TV shows)

6.I want to be Wonder Woman

7.I want to be a free lance photographer -I have some ideas...

8. I want to be an x-ray tech.

9.I want to be an Archaeologist-a digger

10. I want to be a health inspector..I would close down some places so fast...

11. I want to be paid to do nothing

12. I want to work from home and earn enough to not have to work until I'm 70

13. I want to be a helicopter pilot

Grand Plans

I have grand plans.

My parents are comming to visit us in about two weeks, and I need to make some plans.

First, I hope that at least one of my sister's kids come out with them.

Or..all of my Colorado family come out to visit.

II. I would like to have my strawberry's ripe so we can have...strawberry pie, strawberry ice cream, strawberry's with a little sugar, and to graze in the strawberry patch...to eat strawberries.

C. I think that my kids always expect a trip to Ryans, or CiCi's Pizza, and the Dollar Store. The older ones now take money in place of the dollar store-how good of them, huh.

Third, I think we will have a cook out with our extended family (co-workers of hubby), and us all. The kids will have to stay up late-girls- and watch movies or something.

4, I don't know what else to plan, because my folks like to crash early sometimes, and the trip is a hard one to make.

They stay at a hotel. My dad has to go get coffee and a Mcmuffin every morning.

We do a lot of sitting and visiting, but that's alright with me.

I always forget what pretty areas to go see when they are out here.

Anyhow, it will be a fun time, and always goes too fast (for me at least :)).

What I'm Doing Tonight- A Tour In Pictures

Iris' under bedroom window


I counted 10, daughter counted 18

Moving our way! Yippy,fun night.

Auntie Flow

I have a little Auntie...I don't see her every day,

But when she comes to visit...seems she always overstays.

She makes me very nauseous in a worried sort of way,

So all I do is eat, eat, eat until she goes her way.

She really isn't hateful...she just is such a fuss,

And has promised not to visit...if we add one child plus.

(no, mom that won't happen)

I really should embrace her...She's know me for so long,

And even as a young sweet girl...she's taught me this old song.

As Christ suffered on the Cross...pain and death for me.

New life He offers those who trust...in His saving way.

So each month, a reminder sent...from heaven to my home,

Christ's sacrifice in me is played...death flows out,

And the promise of life begins. The pain, a shadow of His cross.

You may not like this Auntie Flow...truth is you have no choice,

She comes and goes by Divine rule...our lot in this man's life.

But someday soon, she'll go away...no more to darken my door,

And a party than, yes I will throw...and go my merry way!

You Pest!!!

My neighbors across the street are from Florida. They have lived other places, but they are the type who "winter" in their Florida home. I only have one home, and I choose to winter in it...well, here. My neighbors are very nice. Nice and clean. Mr. neighbor gave me an old bicycle that didn't sell at the city wide yard sale. Mrs. neighbor told me how to get rid of my ants. I have ants. I hate ants. These ants don't really harm anything, they just swarm over anything that could be, or looks like food. Cat food is the favorite food in the whole ant world, and I have cats that eat cat food.
She told me that the funny thing is in Florida...if you DON'T have the exterminator visit your home regularly people think your dirty. In Missouri...if you DO have the exterminator visit your home people think your dirty. I think that's funny too.
She told me to use "Torro" from W.M. it works by letting the poor little critters gobble up the yummy poison, and than take it home to share with the rest of the folks, and than they all die. I have to use it about every 3 weeks or so, but I don't mind. The rain drives them inside the house, and it's been raining quite a bit here. I came home from work to find my little arch enemies crawling all over the floor. I found the "stuff" and got busy. It works.
I don't like ants outside my home either, but I don't think I should kill them. If they come inside...it's lights out. Outside...I can deal with it. In Colorado we had ants that would bite and chase you all over the yard. In Florida, am told, they have FIRE ANTS that can KILL you. Yup! The ants in my territory are little "Sugar ants" or known by another name.."Piss ants", squish one and you'll know why..because they sure don't smell like sugar!! I use either name depending on how swarmed I am at the time.
I also don't like mice. I live next to a field, so I could easily have mice. Last year I had my bird feeders on my back deck and that was an invitation for the mice to crawl under my house, and chew into my air vent and chew into my bedroom. We (Hubby) fixed the entrance problem, moved the feeders, and tied traps to yarn and dropped them onto the vents. We caught 9 mice! I hate mice more than I hate ants.
So the moral of this story is that there is always something worse that could happen, and that not all cats are natural-born mouse killers. Although mine happen to be... they just aren't natural-born mouse eaters, and that's another story.

I Wanna Be Random Too!!!

Everyone is posting a random post, so I want to do one too.


Here goes.


I got some free e-books from http://www.altongansky.com/


He writes fiction and non-fiction books-I'm reading "Angel" by him right now.


I'm freezing today-it's colder inside than out, but I'm in, and I don't do cold.


I had the heater on and hubby came home and turned it off...it's only 73 inside!!


I'm gonna try to go with Hubby right now to go get car parts...wish me luck!



I did it! Did you miss me?



I like cinnamon gum- quite a bit.



But not the hot kind...just the sweet kind.



I'm chewing gum right now!



You know what kind.



I think I have a very strange imagination.



I mixed and baked 496 chocolate chip cookies today.



I have toxic scoop syndrome. Or something crampy in my hand.



I'm not very entertaining when I ramble, oh well.



I am gonna fix pancakes tonight for supper, and I also have to make some more syrup.



Yes, I make my own syrup...I use "Mapeline"



You can get it at Walmart it's by the spices...blue box. Good stuff.



Okay, that's all I can stand

1962 Ford Falcon and 1964 Mercury Montclair

First, this is P. working next to the strawberry bed. Lots of berry's in about 10 days or so.

View of both of our cars...the mercury is the one we've had.

1964 Mercury Montclair

"Little Blue" next to her new sister. Note the size difference.

Hubby working on our car.

I spent all day outside and is my face red! Really, it is red.

We planted some flowers... pulled weeds...planted pepper plants...worked on grease seals on the new old car...well, I mean He worked on them...entertained a sister in law...cooked out...chased a cat that jumped the fence- Jerry cat is not allowed out of the yard...used the little tiller...pulled a piece of cactus out of sister-in-law...that, by the way, was funny!...had a lot of soda to drink...had a lot of water to drink...dug dirt out from under nails for about half an hour...oh, and I got a sunburn too.

All in all a very productive day!

Oh My!! You Don't Say!

I have a habit of putting myself into situations where I end up being very embarrassed. When I was a teenager I was walking in the mall with my Mom and sister K. We were walking under a escalator area thingy and it had a shelf up high with a man mannequin on it in some sort of a manly pose. I looked up at it and said in a very silly voice and way, " hello there mister man! I see you mister man!" My Mom and sis looked at me with a mixture of horror and shock and down right laughing at me, and asked me what was I doing? I said I was talking to the man on the shelf...they looked and said, "oh, thought you were talking to the clerk" The MALE clerk was laughing behind the register. All this happened very fast as we were walking past, but it seemed to be a loooong time. I am very silly...I know.
I don't know how many times I've made some sort of noise, or said some sort of word, or used some sort of voice at just the same time that all and I mean ALLL of the room goes quiet.
I managed a glass shattering belch in a Pizza Hut just at the same time the Juke Box finished a song...I've had to talk to a bus boy with whipped cream on my nose (K had some on hers too I think)...I've used the Church bathroom as my personal echo chamber only to find out that the whole church was listening to me...I've often been caught be-boppin' to some tunes while driving-not a pretty sight...I have been forbidden by my daughter to use the phrase "none-yo" as in none your business...I can, however, say "what-ev" as in whatever.
I think the lesson that you can learn from my trauma is that... drum roll...
You won't die if you do something stupid-as long as it doesn't involve firearms or race horses.