sorry for the mess

22

2009-07-29T10:51:00.004-05:00

aw! look @ little lexie! she was saying goodbye to me on her very first day of kindergarten {thats why her mouth looks crazee}... hard to believe that was four years ago. wow.

no. not feeling nostaglic this morning. i was looking for a photo of her and william to go along with today's story. william was lex's very first "boyfriend" -- the 2 were like nothing their kindergarten teacher had ever seen. not only inseperable, william was also so very protective of her.

when it came time for first grade the 2 had to be split up, and the following year william's family moved and lexie deemed the 2 "broken up"... and now we FINALLY get to the point of all this....

since those days of william, lex has talked about boys. nathan and damien and sam and jose... but in all honesty those boys are just friends that happen to be boys. i've felt no reason to worry.

well. that all changed yesterday.

in spring a family moved in across the street, with a very sweet 8 year old named brenden, and it all seemed innocent enough. until yesterday when i overheard him ask alexis when he is going to get his first kiss. um... an 8.year.old.says.what?!

help. i'm not ready for this sort of thing.

21

2009-07-28T08:56:00.004-05:00

adventures in tenting. by miz.kellie

i never camped in a tent, never ever never. so i tried to mentally prepare myself for the "fun" the family and i were about to partake in. we knew it was going to rain on saturday, because mr weatherman yelled 70% chance at us all week long. however, friday night was an unwelcomed surprise. before chris had the tent ready, it started to storm. emma runs back into the explorer crying because she is convinced were all about to die. chris is literally touching metal poles while lightning flashes around him. it was fantastic. the rain settles down, and finally we were able to make things semi-liveable.

we went up there with bill + cindy... and met her friends amy + kirk there. so at least we weren't suffering alone. honestly it wasn't THAT bad. i mean yes, the first couple hours sucked. and walking around in mud all weekend {in flipflops} isn't exactly my kind of happiness. but all in all - it was a good time.... but from now on.... if the cabins are filled up, i'll probably just stay home.

kellie + tenting = not.so.much

the girls playing cards sunday morning.

emma caught her very first fish! a cute little emma-sized fish that she wanted to bring home and keep forever.

boys will be boys?!

while the fam was doing some fishing... i tried to catch me a goose. i imagined carrying one back gently in my arms saying... "big deal you caught some fish, i caught me a goose!" sadly the geese thought i was killer, and wouldn't let me love them.

a dirty emma with the doggity-dogs.

which reminds me to add, elphie may of fallen out of the car window on the way up north.

20

2009-07-23T21:35:00.003-05:00

19

2009-07-22T13:22:00.001-05:00

oh!

i want to go to there.

18

2009-07-20T09:39:00.004-05:00

funny that the girls were sO enthralled with the fish in the water at this lil lake we went to yesterday. how quickly they forget all the craziness they seen last summer in Seista Key... like when that manatee was less then 10 yards away!

we took out one of the little paddle boats and lexie was hella good at moving us around in circles... barf.... i mean... weeeee fun?

maybe i'm bias. but emmabean is just the cutest 7 year old. ever.

the end.

17

2009-07-20T09:10:00.005-05:00

oh alexis. how i love you so. apparently this is a list of songs that she wanted to listen to, or did listen to. clearly the thing that caught my eye at first was "porker face" hah!

"my-my-my porker face"

but wait! ohh that smell?!

followed by little bunny foofoo?!

followed by bad moon rising?!

me :: lex, what is this list?

her :: my favorite songs

me :: ohh that smell is one of your favorite songs?

her :: not anymore

me :: when was it ever?!

her :: yesterday.

well okay then, everything makes much more sense now.... or not....

16

2009-07-17T14:57:00.005-05:00

a couple weeks ago // i was banking via drive thru // you know the kind where you stick your crud into that tube // and then it's whisked away // ?? // yes that kind.

so i'm sitting there. waiting.
and then the little speaker voice asks me if by accident did i set the tube thingie down inside my car // ?? // um no // long story, short // a manager takes down my info and tells me she will call me once my tube is rescued // i drive home {license-less} and peeved cause i needed to deposit said money so i could go shopping.

hours later // bank calls // i return to retrieve my license

point of story comes now :: i'm not using the tube system anymore. i will park my stupid car and go inside. prolly forever. because my irrational fear that if it happened once, it could happen again.

also! one time i was in one of those {put your car in neutral and enjoy the ride} car wash places. when all of a sudden i noticed brake lights ahead of me... omg why was i looking at brake lights?! knowing that i shouldn't, all of a sudden i had to brake too. the conveyor that your car rides on, stops, and an employee approaches my window to explain that the car above me was an idiot, while another employee verbally abuses the above driver. it was a crazed scenario, but i have never gone back into one of those car washes again. never ever ever.

yes. i am a magnet for the strange and unusual.
thank you for noticing.

one more thing :: i have 2 cute, but loud dogs :: anyone want them?!

their yap-yap-yapping is almost worse then being behind a complete moron in an automatic car wash. i mean. i love you elphers and spencie.

15

2009-07-15T11:50:00.005-05:00

following this week's theme.... i love this pendant!!!

him is very sweet :D

orders + house cleaning + pool maintenance = my day so far.

the girls have been outside most of the morning // which makes for a more productive me.

according to twc.com we have a 60% chance of thundery goodness today.

bad news for small children who want to go swimming // good news for momma's with so many unfinished projects started around here.

maybe i should let them splash around a bit while it's still sunny?

gives me an excuse to be lazy and finish re-reading New Moon.

continue being homemaker-ly. or sit outside by the pool.

decisions. decisions.

14

2009-07-14T09:19:00.006-05:00

pretty picture by ::

http://www.flickr.com/photos/megspaperdreams/

{really loving raindrop photos lately}

chris took the girlies fishing again last night.

i stayed home due to an infinite amount of laundry. i was sO looking forward to a little quiet time, but amazingly enough, grew bored.

watched intervention + obsessed

{which reminds me...}

intervention totally made me cry last night

after the saddest {most powerful} intervention ever... he passed away.

post office + food shopping today.

thinking about taking the girls to the park as well.

3 things.

2009-07-13T11:55:00.007-05:00

i love love love the above painting by the multi-talented elsie.cake

justin timberlake is my secret celebrity crush... errr... i guess that's not a secret anymore....

kaleb nation {aka twilightguy} should be my new bff. please kaleb?! i'm begging you.

12

2009-07-12T13:11:00.004-05:00

emma and i are gonna go swimming.

alexis is over her friends house.

the kitties are sleeping.

the doggies are too.

and the husband... he's ummm... around here somewhere.

there.

now you're all caught up on us.

happy sunday.

11

2009-07-11T10:44:00.006-05:00

took the girls {and our neighbor's son zach} up to the 9 mile fishing spot {behind fishbones} last night.

we caught a total of ZERO fish!! yay us!!

although one brave lil guy took my worm and swam away.

alexis would re-worm my pole for me.

she is my new hero.

alexis - my worm handling hero - !!

emmabean showing off her skillz

zach-eriah waiting patiently for the fish he would never catch.

10

2009-07-09T09:57:00.017-05:00

since march the husband and i spent quite a bit of time restoring a kayak pool we got off of craigslist. it was definitely more work then i ever thought it would be. and honestly i never thought we would ever be done. but we are... give or take a few missing railings that still need to be added to the decking.

this whole mess started back last fall :: when we were taking down the intex pool we had for the past couple years. i forget exactly why chris deemed it dead. but he did. the girls and i were told that next summer be prepared for a pool.less backyard.

then it late feb {or maybe it was early march} he made a listing on craigslist asking if anyone wanted to help out a sad, pool.less family. next thing i knew he was telling me he was going to be pulling a pool apart. i was happy! the girls were happy! and then.... i seen a photo of said pool...

i was... hmm... to put it gently... less then impressed. but he was on a mission. he had a game plan that included:: power washing and paint and a 5 1/2 foot deep end.

we had a wheel chair ramp attached to our exsisting deck {because the prior owners needed it} and for the past several years the girls have enjoyed riding their bikes down it. the first step was to remove said ramp.

bye ramp! the girls {and the dogs will miss you}

we also had this ridiculous piece of concrete that stuck out into the grass... cindy + bill helped take care of that problem for us.

this photo went on craigslist... and some dude happily took all the concrete away.

one of my jobs was to powerwash and scrub the deck boards until my hands bled.

and the pile in the garage was never ending.

{it was while washing these that i accidently powerwashed my own foot}

{that hurt. a-freaking-lot}

thanks miss dig! now we can destroy the backyard without blowing up anything. now, between this miss dig photo and the next... months went by... and i do mean months. the digging and the tilling and the amount of dirt we played in was beyond tedious. i seriously thought we would never ever ever be able to get the ground level. april and may were nothing but a blur of dirt.

but we finally got it!! and promptly toasted a shot of whiskey to celebrate.

just when i thought i would never have to dig another scoop of dirt... ever again. the liner showed up. and i was reminded there was a deep end to dig out. {i wept quietly into my pillow that night}

a few weeks later we had ourselves a deep end & our own personal putt-putt golf course.

and then i was POSITIVE i was done with the whole digging thing.

and then the sand arrived in a huge truck, ruining my shovel-less dreams.

i didn't know the walls went up before the sand was to be spread out.

i stepped outta the way for this. watching chris and bill was a well needed break. and then came time for what i will say was the 2nd hardest thing i had to do... we had wayyy too much sand. so, we had to scoop and then toss the sand over the walls. my arms were screaming... and it was hella hot {of course} on that day.

and when i say we had wayyy too much...

i mean... wayyy toooo much!!!!

the next few days sped by. chris and bill installed the decking.

working hours after bill's bedtime {wink}

the following picture is what was going on above a shirtless, drilling christopher

poor lil billy.

had to wear cindy's shoes cause his lil toes were getting chilly on the frigid decking.

remember when i mentioned that shoveling the sand out of the pool was the 2nd hardest thing i had to do? well i do not have a picture of what was the absolute hardest and most frustrating step. installing that !?#%! liner. omg. words can't describe it... and once bill figured it out, and i was starting to catch on... we realized we had it backwards. i had a few blisters on my fingers when we finally got it turned around and installed correctly, but my hands looked amazing next to bill's. chris and i owe him bigtime for all he did for us.

in the end, it was all worth it, i'll never do it again, but it was definitely worth it...

spencer showing how it looked before the railings.

and after railings.

the end.

blows away the dust.

2009-07-08T15:19:00.002-05:00

whoa.

i um.

should update this thing.

can't.

believe.

haven't.

been.

here.

for.

over.

months.

08

2008-12-26T12:35:00.005-05:00

i heart that picture.

it was taken seconds after emma opened "biscuit"

a totally overpriced toy i never agreed to get her.

something she talked about sO much // that mr santa bought it behind my back.

okay and yes.

seeing her carry the 25lb toy around the house // makes it semi.worth the $$$

i will give biscuit some credit though :: he listens far better than both of our other dogs combined.

alexis was surprised with a digital camera.

but letdown by the absence of a cell phone.

i again reminded her that she is only 8 -- and a cell phone is out of the question for at least another 5 years. oh and i should mention that she wasn't asking for just any old cell phone.. oh no ... she wanted "the new blackberry" but would "be okay with an iphone".... keep dreaming girlie.

as for me // i also did not get the iphone that i was dreaming of.

#&*!@#?!

06

2008-12-24T10:12:00.004-05:00

i heart you baby aardvark // i love you lots

{http://www.freep.com/article/20081223/NEWS03/81223049/?imw=Y}

his front claws are quite frightening.

i totally want to attack them with our pedi.paws trimmer

05

2008-12-23T09:52:00.003-05:00

{photo by :: tracie76 on deviantart}

yes it's true // i heart wicked // sO much

last night was my 2nd time seeing it // the husband's 1st time.

when i seen it 2 years ago // i was totally smitten.

hellz... i even named our dog "elphie"

back in august the husband sent me an email titled :: your lucky day

not only did he surprise me with tickets to wicked // he made sure we had front row seats

{love}

last night's elphaba was amazing {donna vivino}

but my favorite glinda is still {kendra kassebaum}

blah blah blah // insert more wicked gushing // blah blah blah

----> in other news :: tomorrow is christmas eve

i have so much to do. so much to clean. so much to cook.

must.get.motivated.

04

2008-12-22T16:26:00.004-05:00

oh! oh! oh!
look what came in the mail saturday for "the husband"
looks like he bought me another print from the super talented and cool elise flannigan.
{squeals} {!!!!} {more squeals}

found this on the front door {when going to get the mail}
emma made us :: a watch out for polar bear sign
it's definitely snowy and cold enough for them right now.
brrr's to evil winter weather.

---> must go get ready.
---> off to see wicked tonight!

03

2008-12-20T20:42:00.000-05:00

i spent 3 hours wrapping presents this afternoon.

3 quiet. kidless. dvr filled hours.

happy holidays indeed.

02

2008-12-19T20:24:00.002-05:00

the fam built a snow fort this afternoon :)
everyone helped out ... even domo.
i... um... helped by... documenting! yes documenting! and making hot cocoa!
i would of done more if the mister wasn't wearing my gloves.
yes // that's the story i'll stick with.

photo 1 :: me proving i was indeed outside @ some point
photo 2 :: domo was the first to enter the fort
photo 3 :: lexie working hard
photo 4 :: neighbor child + emma + lexie {all looking a wee bit nuts}
photo 5 :: emma playing in her own mini-fort
photo 6 :: lexie using "the window"
photo 7 :: personal favorite // grow snow grow {wink}
photo 8 :: "uhhh. you forgots about meeee"

01

2008-12-19T11:45:00.006-05:00

i think it's about time i actually start blogg.ing again.
oh how i hate the word ---> blog.
bloggity.blog.blog.blog.

orders are :: S U P E R S L O W this week.
i knew things would settle down the closer we got to the holidays // and with the mister stressing about $$ all the time // i was dreading it.
{BUT}
it's actually a good thing.
cause not only am i swamped with my own christmas stuff ----> mother nature has decided to drop 390 feet of snow on us this week.

lovely shot taken :: through my front door.
{click on poopie picture // to see it betterish}
my photography skills on this picture should definitely win me many awards {wink}
anyways..... if you look closely you can see a car behind my neighbor totally stuck in the street... he was there for quite sometime. i always find it amusing when cars get stuck in the snow.... until it happens to me....