It's that time of year again!

PoPcOrN !!!

Canyon all ready has 4 cans sold and he has till November 12th to sell more.

First day of school 2009

Looks like we survived the first day of school!

Canyon was worn out but after school went with Rusty for 3 hours.

Sahara likes her schedule and even gets bused over to the high school for choir class.

I have a very good crew of kids in my class.

Looks like it might be a great year!

Pool party

Canyon went to a b-day pool party for a 3 year old. I was messing around with my camera and using the panoramic shots, captured this.
It's too funny!

Canyon has a twin!


~click on the picture for a closer view~

So, one of these days I told Sahara we will have to experiment with the camera and see if we can get triplets of both of them.
I love this feature!

1 week of summer left

The kids have one week of summer left. I get to go back on Monday. They don't go till Wednesday. They have their school supplies and new bookbags. Canyon has all new shorts and his pants should make it thru this winter. Next year he will have to get all new pants. Sahara has all new pants and a couple shirts. She feels her clothes shopping needs to be kicked in overdrive, but honestly, she has enough shirts (and pants and shorts) that she can wear a different outfit till Thanksgiving and not have to wear the same thing twice. The girl is loaded!

Fun with Fotos

Sahara's room is done and we used my camera to take panoramic pics of her room.




Canyon got his furniture swaped around and a new curtian too. Can't really tell here but it has flames on it to go with his hot rod/cars room.

Who says there no such thing as a free lunch, and dinner, and breakfast, and snack...

I decided to get my little tin of gift cards out and see if I could make some dents on them. I had 5 believe it or not for Walmart. So today I did the regular shopping, plus got a few extra things and spend $136. I got to use 4 of the cards, the 5th did not register and probably was used up and so old the number just did not exist anymore. On the others I had $11, $20, $25 and $30. So I ended up paying $50 for the groceries that were $136 to begin with! Go me!

Sahara's new room ~ UpDaTeD ~ floor pic at the bottom

After 9+ years of purple walls, Sahara decided she wanted a redo. It's her b-day gift (early) to repaint the walls and get some sort of floor in. She has had cement floors since we tore up the carpet about 3 years ago.


Step 1: We moved all the furniture to the center or out of the room. We took everything off the walls.

Step 2: We went to Walmart and bought $75 worth of paint and supplies.
Step 3: Spackle

Step 4: 1st coat of paint.

Two walls blue, two walls white.

That's it for today. Paint is taking a good while to dry. Tomorrow is hopefully second coat of paint and trim. Then floors.

*Update*

I forgot to add yesterday that she had wanted bubbles painted on the walls. Whatever, it's her room and she has to live with it. They are cute tho.

So, second coat is done and so is most of the trim. Floors are tomorrow. We went to Lowe's and she picked a beige colored stone look tile. The trouble is we have to tile around furniture. Hope it all goes well. Worse than the furniture being in the way, the cement is very rough. I bought cement leveler, but I only got one and I guess I could have used 3. This is beginning to be a pretty expensive project. I think we are up to $250 now. Not that I have the money to be spending on this. It definitely is her b-day gift now.

The floor is in! YAY !!!

TJ

Before we went to Branson we had a really friendly turtle we named Tommy. We let him go. When the kids (Zach and Sahara) were test driving Josh's car up and down the street, we found this little guy. He also was very friendly. So we named him TJ (Tommy Jr.) He has been set free too.

Fishin'

Canyon and I went with his Cub Scouts fishing the other weekend. It was the earliest we got up this summer. We had to meet the troop at a gas station at 8 am then follow them out to the fishin' hole.

No one caught a thing but a couple boys got turtles who stole their bait. Canyon learned how to cast and since he didn't have the patience to wait for a fish, he just cast over and over and over. He got really good at it.

After about 1 hour and 15 minutes, we gave up and called it a day.

Road repair

Every other year they come and tear up the street in front of our mailbox and 'repair' it. This year Canyon was home and really wanted to see the tractors work. I told him to sit on the bench by the front window but he managed to move a little closer,


And closer,

And closer!

Canyon's ENT appointment

We went to Little Rock yesterday to Children's for Canyon's ENT appointment. He has been going every 6 months since birth. A couple years ago he had a rock in his ear and they had to papoose him and it still took about 6 nurses and the doctor to remove the rock. Since then, he will not let anyone near his ears. We have had many fights at the ENT with him on the floor and several people holding him down and him screaming just to get a peak in his ears. Anyway, since his sinuses are clear right now and it had been several years since he last had his hearing tested, we did that instead of the torture he was expecting. He will be tested every year from here on out and the look in his years will stop. (as long as he isn't having ear infections which haven't happened in years)

The hearing test:

He ranked in the slightly deaf range hearing at about 20 decibels straight across. That's the sound of a whisper. He cannot hear lower such as leaves gently rustling or breathing which are sounds in the 10 decibels range. But that no steps will be needed to improve his hearing until normal conversation cannot be heard well which is in the 50-60 decibel range.

BUT, because of his disability and stubbornness, the test is not completely accurate either. There were times during the test, he was bored and done and refused to participate when I know for a fact he could hear and other times he jumped to participate when no noise at all was being tested yet. So, I guess it kind of averages out to 20 anyway. He will only be going yearly for the hearing test now unless a problem like ear infection happen.

Harry Potter 6 - NO spoilers, I promise

Of course we went to opening day. Stupid movie theater's web site and phone message said they only had 3 showings in 2 theaters, but when we got there, and waited for 2 hours in the scorching heat, we found out they had 5 showings in 3 theaters and we missed the less crowded ones earlier in the day and were there with all the 'have to wait till work is out' crowd. Anyway, we were about the 50th people in line so we got great seats.

The movie- This time I did not reread the book before going to see it and since it has been years since I did read the book, I was able to enjoy the movie better than the last 5. I do remember some things left out or changed up, but I know that has to be done for time. It was good tho. Lots of dark..and humor. Won't say more because I don't want to spoil it for others till they get a chance to see it too. :)

( there are some scary parts where you and the rest of the audience will jump - just in case you have young kids going that might get too scared. But, it is PG-13 and compared to other PG-13 movies that are horror/thrillers, it's not that bad. )

I haven't posted a darned thing

Because nothing is going on here. I hate it when summer gets like this. It's just waiting for school/work to start up again and that is just not right. We do have a bit of a busier week this week. I have a brunch with a co-worker, Canyon has therapy, waiver, and an ENT appt at childrens. We will have to make a day of that in Little Rock. And Canyon's SSI appt. Of course Harry Potter will be out on Wednesday and we will have to see that. :)

More computer issues

We have been battling virus after virus and fake-antispyware ater fake-antispyware and it just doesn't seem to get better for more than a week or 2. We are ok now, except we are completely banned from facebook now. Even if I try to get to facebook thru a search engine (which is another problem) it closes the internet connection and we are back to the desk top. The search engine (we usually use yahoo but this is happening on google too), doesn't matter what you search for, you click on what you want and are sent to some shotty second class search engine or to a shopping site. It is so irritating. I have run 3 different antivirus - malware - adware programs 6 times and even tho they have found things here and there, they haven't been able to catch what is going on with facebook and the search engines. grrrrrrrrr

A few pictures

Last weekend we went to Rusty and Melanie's wedding reception. It was a surprise for Melanie thrown by Rusty because they sort of eloped a year ago and she didn't get to have extended family and friends at a reception. Rusty is Canyon's wavier worker. Melanie was his waiver worker until she took on a different job and she was also his aide at school for kindergarten. They are both 2 of the nicest people ever and both are great with Canyon!

Here is the shelf paper. It looks so much better and brighter now. No, I didn't go buy another roll yet and do the rest like I said I was.

Here is the 'cousins' collage. It didn't turn out too bad, but the frame wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I wanted one with individual doors to open on the back so it is easy to switch out a picture here and there, but the entire back has to come off to do that on this one.

I'm loney, oh so lonely...

Kids went off with James for the 4th weekend. This is only the second time they have gone off without me. I wonder, does it get any easier??? I just don't know how to have me time. I tried to take a much needed nap, but it was almost too quite. Plus I cannot rid my mind of horrible tragedies that might occur to the kids because I am not there. Car accident, drowning, lost, stolen, hit by traffic...

I have another project to do. Another one that was supposed to be done before company was here, but I didn't get to it in time. I bought one of those really big frames with 12 separate 4x6 picture spots to put the 'cousins' together. I got one with 12 in case we end up with extra people to add. (yes Brian and Mel - that would be you I am talking about!) Because, the last time I did this, I got one with 6, which would work but I wanted Levi in there too and this time I can get Jimmy in there as well. It will have a couple of blanks but I also got colored paper in patterns that match the living room so it will look ok I think. I'll get a picture of it up when I get it done.

I could pull weeds, yay. Read a book, eh. Rent some movies, maybe. Get Mila over and have a few beverages, most probably.

Well, that's my weekend. I hope the kids stay safe but have a good time.

Weekend Warrior

I didn't plan it this way:

First, I found that the dog was using my flower bed to dig a ginormous hole to sleep in behind the center bush. I decided to get that fixed and filled it in with what I had. After doing so, I realized that it wasn't potting soil but super concentrated fertilized soil that I put in the hole. I gave up in the sweltering heat and let it go. In the process I let the whole center of the flower bed die from waaaay too much fertilizer. So, after 2 days, I bought and replanted the middle section the the flower bed again in the sweltering heat. I hope I dug out enough of the fertilizer so that the next set of plants don't burn too.

Next I got the water bill. My toilet in the hall has been running pretty much since we bought the place. The toilet has been replaced and the guts have been replaced 3 times. But still it leaks. The water bill never reflected that it was much of an issue, just a bit irritating. The kids have been playing in the hose more than usual but the water bill has only been this high when we had the horses and someone forgot to turn off the water over night when filling up their drinking water. So, I decided maybe it is the toilet now and went to install a new (4th) flapper. After getting a good one with sealant this time and getting it installed, the water would not come back on to fill up the tank. I didn't have a clue why that happened. I went to the computer to find some fix-it troubleshooting sites and found nothing to really help me. Went back in the bathroom and the tank is full. OOOKKK. Well, that's up and running.

Then, went in the kitchen digging around in the pots and pans cabinet and I found mold! Did some more searching and found it in the cabinet by the sink as well. Then I realised that last fall we had a leak with the water heater on the other side of the wall from those 2 cabinets and sure enough, that's where it is coming from. I spayed it all with bleach and washed everything. I can only imagine what is growing in the wall! I decided then that my plan of putting shelf paper down wasn't just a nice idea, it was something that needed and should be done. So, I bought 2 rolls at Lowe's and did the 'important' shelves, but I need to go back and get another roll for the shelves not often looked at and up high. This is an on going project. At the least I got some cabinet cleaned out and the paper looks nice and like it was always there. You know you did something right when it looks like it has always been there :) Just is a shame it wasn't done for all the company last week.

Look at this crazy dog!

First of all, she knows she is not allowed to be on the couch. But after sneaking up anyway, this is how she decides to lay down. She fits well don't you think?

Little Trip to Spring Lake

Trying to keep some of the tan I got and tan more, we went to Spring Lake about 1/2 hour away from the house. The water was pretty warm. Almost too warm actually.

Canyon liked to climb up the ladder and jump off the wall.

As you can see, I'm not getting too much of a tan standing in the shade. However this is after being there for an hour and 45 minutes all ready. It's sooo hot for June. Next time, I will remember to bring a book and other kids for Sahara and Canyon to play with. It was nice tho, only 4 or 5 families there.

The Branson trip!

Warning! - If you want to see our trip in order, you need to scroll down to 'Our Branson Trip' and read up, 1 thru 10.

UPDATE:

And the adventure continues: Tony is still stuck in Little Rock (was supposed to leave out 3 hours ago) and now is being told because of the weather in Chicago, he can't leave out till Sunday! We may have to go get them, but no answer on his cell. Kristy's group just barely made their flight late to Dallas because of a medical emergency and Mom and Dad and Aunt Carol and Uncle Jim are an hour late on their flight.

Branson 10 The last hurrah!

Pizza night and our last night in Branson.

Afterwards it was Hand and Foot and Golf. What a great trip!

Branson 9

White Water

Ahhhh, the cool water felt so good in the heat. 95 today.

Canyon poses by the Rainforrest Island. Great place for kids 6-12

He is off to chase down Nana.

Emily does a "10" run.

Kristy a bit surprised I took her picture. That happened a lot :)