The end of a chapter...beginning of the book

Last night Chef's (my 17 y/0) girlfriend graduated from high school. It was a wonderful ceremony and one of the shortest graduations I have ever attended. Her graduating class made history in their city, by being the last Senior class to attend the old high school AND the first Senior class to attend the new high school (a mid-year move!). As a little part of their celebration the entire class decided to go outside to the new track and toss their caps together. It was a wonderful sight and a fantastic picture. I wish I could show you the entire photo, so you could see their faces and the joy they feel but this will have to suffice.

School Art Show

Just thought I would share a photo that Mr. Rebel (my 9 y/o son) took for his school's art show. He tried for several days to get a good photo with his camera and did well. However, he wanted a macro shot, '...like Mommy...' So, he got to play with my camera. This is the bumper of a crash guard on a very big dump truck.

Messing with my sunglasses...

Happy Birthday to me...

Well, I turned 30 yesterday. I think I am okay with it. I had a great day. My SIL, my older brother's wife, came over to drop off information for a girl scout craft I am doing with my niece's troop (we're making jewelry!) and we talked for a bit. After dropping the 19 y/o off at work I stopped at the store to get a few more things for dinner and ran into my SIL again! We ended up talking for almost 2 1/2 hours! In the store!!! It was great.

After finally getting home, I turned on the oven to get started on my birthday cake. Several months ago I decided that since I was turning 30, I was going to make it fun. So, I did this...

What do you think? Me? I think it looks so ugly that it's cute! Hahaha! I had such a great time making it! When I started to put the icing on that cake, of course, started to pull apart. I called my DH tell him about it and could hardly talk for laughing so much! It really is an easy cake to create...you just have to use the right cake mix! I wanted a Carrot Cake and it calls for yellow, which of course is denser than the carrot. Overall, I had a blast! I remember my mom making me these really fancy cakes as I was growing up. It was kind of cool to be able to make one myself!

If any of you want to try it out, or see what it was supposed to look like, here it is. Hope you have a blast!

Tulips

Stained glass

I took this photo around this time last year. It is a super-macro photo of stained glass.

Some color...

Textures

Since I was thinking dandelion . . .

A favored flower...

It seems that the dandelion is a favored flower with the children in my family. My brother and SIL, along with their two sons, came for a visit the middle of April. My two younger boys and their cousins enjoyed the time they had together. My youngest nephew, Crumbgrabber as his mother calls him in blog posts, found delight in the MANY dandelions that grow in my yard.

Hair

Well, after almost 5 years, I did it. I had a major cut done to my hair.

About five years ago I had old color and damage taken off the length of my hair. By the end of the salon visit, I had a pageboy cut. During the ensuing years I have had trims that involved only a dusting of the ends to cuts that took off six inches (I cried and needed a supportive hand during those visits). Last Saturday I followed through with what I had been thinking of for almost 2 months.

When I walked inside the salon, I could easily sit on my hair. When I walked out...it hit me at my bra strap. Over 1 foot of hair came off my head. Turns out it wasn't as traumatic as I thought it would be. Jim (my hair guy) was great! I have been going to see him for over 6 years. He made me promise when he cut my damage off at the beginning, and found out I was going to let it grow, that I would always come to him for trims and upkeep. He loves long hair and wished more women would let their's grow, so I was in no danger of him cutting off too much. He also made me promise that, when the time came, I would return to him for the big cut. March 1st was it. And like every other time I have gone in, I had to stand. The only difference? This time he didn't have to get on his knees to do the trimming.

Many associates near him stopped their work and watched. They all have kept an eye on my length over the years and were shocked that 'that was THE day'. I like it, though. I can still pull it up. It still moves. Best of all...I have my CURL back! I had so much hair that I was BARELY wavey.

I would just like to thank my SIL, Dana. When I made the decision to let my hair grow and to do it in a healthy manner, she was my biggest supporter. My Hair Buddy. Without her constant support for over a year, I would have just shaved my head and been done.

It may seem sappy to many of you to post about a hair cut but for almost 5 years, my hair was my identity. Now, it can be someone else's. I am mailing my pony tail to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, to use in making a real-hair wig for a woman who has suffered from cancer.

So, that's it for now. I know it's been a while but with kids being sick (real sick!) and my DH and I catching something, I just haven't had the energy or desire to do much with blogging.

True Colors

It's unedited and a bit sloppy looking but I love the colors. I don't have enough time right now to work with it (sick Little Pirate and oldest needs a ride to work) but I will later. The colors are true! The sky was amazing that day! Plus, I got to feed my Flag habit...lol!

Update on my 'List of 5...'

Well, if you read the following post you will notice that on my list of '5 Things on my to-do List', I have noted that I need to take my two youngest sons to the doctor. Oh, my...

Mr. Rebel (the 9 y/o) has a sinus infection. Normally, this isn't anything unusual but this time he has such severe pressure in his ears that he hurts all the time. I hurt because I can't just make it go away!He and his little brother are taking the same antibiotic, now. Luckily, he can go back to school tomorrow. He HATES missing science class!

Little Pirate (the 6 y/o) has a sinus infection AND severe bronchitis! It took the doctor less than 3 MINUTES to get him on a breathing treatment after hearing him COUGH! She ordered an X-Ray to rule out pneumonia. Thank goodness his lungs are clear. He has to do breathing treatments every 3 hours for the next 7-10 days and cannot return to school until next week.

We were at the hospital for over 4 hours and then we had to run all over getting the nebulizer for the breathing treatments, lunch, and the prescriptions for both the boys. Needless to say, I am tired, the boys are exhausted and I still have to fix dinner. The oldest needs someone to ride with him up to his girlfriend's house and I didn't even get to work on the house today.

Happy thought? My boys are still able to laugh and play together, no matter the amount of medication that they must take.

My life.

Five things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Falling in love even more with the wonderful man I was dating (my husband).

2. Falling in love even more with his children.

3. Grieving over the death of my father and grandfather (just over two months apart).

4. Making plans to visit my mom to help pack up the house.

5. Trying to learn who I was.

Five things on my to do list today:

1. In agreement with Dana - Pack up the Christmas decor (I know, I KNOW!)

2. Take my two youngest sons to the doctor

3. Finish editing Senior Portraits for my 17-year-old's girlfriend.

4. Do the dishes! Ugh!

5. Maybe take a nap (up til 2am)

Five things I will do when I am a millionaire:

1. Build a house that will hold my family.

2. Make sure that my mom and grandparents are taken care of.

3. Let my husband stay home with the kids like he dreams of doing.

4. Make sure that my kids are able to afford college.

5. Take my kids on a trip across the country!

Five things I will never wear again:

1. My size 2 wedding dress

2. Maternity clothes

3. Pegged pants

4. Skirts above the knee

5. Bikini (now, a tankini we will discuss.)

Five of my favorite toys:

1. My Black & Decker power scissors (think Singer scissors with a bit more oomph!)

2. My food processor

3. My digital camera

4. My Kitchen Aid Mixer

5. My chest freezer (with four hungry boys, I LOVE IT!)

The five banes of my existence:

1. Living in a right-handed world can be difficult

2. People who think they are owed EVERYTHING without having to work for it

3. Clutter

4. Bills (no, NOT the football team!)

5. Learning how to let my kids make mistakes and NOT fixing them

Five bloggers I'm Tagging:

1. Aunt Martha

2.

3.

4.

5.

(so I didn't have five.)

And this is what happens when you leave a can of soda in a car overnight. A car that gets SNOWED ON! Luckily, it didn't explode!

This is FANTASTIC!!!

More parents need to do this!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080109/ap_on_fe_st/odd_car_ad

Scattered...

Things have been a bit scattered as of late. Family getting sick after Christmas, medical issues with a few people in my house, and sending a Marine to California for 18 months of training. Life is scattered.

I have done a few photo shoots lately. One for a couple that didn't get any taken during their ceremony a few years ago and then Senior Year Photos for my 16 (almost 17) year-old's girlfriend. Oh, THAT was a cold few days!

She wanted snow. We waited for snow. It. Was. FREEZING!!! I seriously thought we were going to have frostbite by the time we were finished! I did get a few fantastic shots. Being such an amateur, I am not that comfortable photographing people. I prefer inanimate objects that can't be disappointed.

So, I just thought I would let ya'll know that I am still lurking.

Snow Cones