Well, At Least She Shines

Lately I've been loving this kicky little lotion from Bath and Body Works that comes from their aromatherapy collection. It's called Orange Ginger and it's supposed to give you a renewed sense of energy... blah, blah, blah... but I just like the way it smells. It's different.

So after I showered the other day, I went out to Mark to ask him if he liked it. I stretched out my wrist and he drew a deep whiff... and slightly recoiled. I thought "Whoa! He must be breathing in the energy!"

Then the conversation goes on as follows:

I'm like, "Well, whatdya think?"

He said, "It's ok... Hey! Do you know what that smells like?"

Me, "Energy in a bottle?"

Him, "No... Pledge. Isn't that the stuff you spray on the piano? I mean.... it smells good and all. Just a little lemony, I guess. Soooooo, I like your hair today...."

Whatever. Obviously, I need a new smell. HA! Is there anything that you are loving right now? We'd probably do well to stay away from the citrus, though. ;)

Monday, Monday

Happy Monday Morning!

We've had a mild snafu with the aforementioned cookoff photos. It seems that when I handed my darling hubby the camera to take shots of the contest, he thought it would be hil-ar-i-ous to get SEVERAL photos of us putting food into our mouths or chewing, ect., which landed us some pretty goober-esqe pictures. None of which I will be posting here. HA!

Here's one of Ty (in the back) and his friend cooking. They are both pretty soaked! I'm wondering how The Next Food Network Stars would have fared in these conditions?! Hats off to ALL of the guys who worked so hard!

On to other news: It's raining! Can you believe it? It's been at least 10 minutes since that's happened.... hee-hee! Oh well, it's much better than a drought, which is where we were last year. I will say this, though; It's definitely harder to get motivated in the morning when it's dreary outside. It's 20 till 10 and we've barely accomplished anything. It's a 2nd cup of coffee kind of day (month) for sure!

Okey doke, I've gotta get busy,

Up, Up, Up, And AWAY!

After morning number 654 of rain, one might become convinced that a thorough study of Genesis for the blueprint of an ark might be necessary. Hmmmmmm....



Today was the annual Boy Scout cookoff, where parents get to come out and taste the fine cuisine that is prepared for them by their sons and company. It's actually a competition that they take very seriously, so they work extra hard to make sure it's good and this year was no different!

I was a judge for the second time and was completely impressed! The toughest part is the decision making process because it's hard to see anyone disappointed. They really do put their hearts into it. We've got a ton of pictures, but I'll save those for tomorrow.



The really cool part is that we had the competition at a local park whose main attraction is a cavern. I can't tell you how beautiful it is up there! This was an old entrance into one of the caves. Keep your eye on the boy...



He has absolutely NO fear.



All the while his brilliant Mama is trying to not throw her hateful camera to the ground and tromp it because it keeps giving me fuzzy pictures, he's just shimmying up...



uuuuuup



UP!



Until finally, I realize...DUH! It's been raining like crazy for 654 days and he's on a perfectly vertical incline on slippery rock. "ANDREW!"



Thank goodness for Daddy. The original Recue Hero.



Blasted camera.

Let's Try This Thing Again

Hey, guess what? I love blogging! I really do despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and I think I'ma gonna start doing it again. I can't promise gorgeous pics in every post (or any posts for that matter) because it's just me and my old, pitiful, flat-out broken down, Kodak EZ share, but we'll do our best! :D However donations are being accepted for the sweet Nikon that I disgracefully covet. hee-hee! juuuuust kidding...

And I will probably be so random that your head will spin, but I know that my faithful few will still hang with me, won't ya?

I came thisclose to letting the sun go down over here at The Westie Crew (obviously..HA!), but I just can't do it. So, I'll see ya tomorrow. :)

Working the Weekend

You know how I said that I like unpacking? Well, I retract. I *did* like unpacking in the beginning, but now that we are down to the last 7-10 boxes, I've run out of steam. The stinkiest part is that it's the classroom stuff.

Organizing a classroom is a fine art, I wholeheartedly believe, but I think I'm overanalyzing, a bit. I want it as practical as possible, yet, I don't want it to feel like we've walked into a How to Create Bulletin Boards with 5000 Pieces or Less seminar. In other words, I'm having a hard time putting my History Timeline, ect. on the wall because it clashes. HA! Isn't that ridiculously vain? Oh well. There will be time for perfect Southern Living style dining rooms when all my kids graduate, I guess.

We've had a nice, productive weekend thus far. Mark and the boys tore down one of the existing sheds here so that we will have room for ours (which is only a year old).

All of our shed's contents are in the screened in porch area until that process is finished, which we are all ready for! It probably won't be until the beginning of the week though because it's storming today (blessedly). I've got big plans for the screened in porch and those plans include my swing... one of my favorite things in the world.

I can't wait for my outside haven. I had one on my back porch at our old place so it's pretty important that I have a place outside here for my sanity. It's where I go in the mornings first thing after I get my coffee and it's the most important time of my day.

What about you? Do you have a haven either inside or out? If you don't, get thyself to a corner somewhere and make it yours. It works wonders for the soul, I swear!

Diego's Got Nuthin on Us...

Today has been a long, but good, day (and it's only 3:00 in the afternoon!). We started by heading to the Alabama Wildlife Rescue first thing this morning because we found a sweet little baby bird who was about to die last night after dinner. We gently scooped him up and placed him in a cloth-lined shoebox where I fully expected to find him already gone this morning. But, this is what I saw instead:

He kept opening his mouth and peeping at me, so I soaked some bread in milk to feed the little thing. He gobbled it right down!

Then we headed out pretty early in the morning to the Wildlife Center:

When we got there, we learned that he is a Brown Thrasher and that he probably sustained an injury when leaving the nest for the first time since he landed on concrete. Thankfully, they gave us a way to track his progress via mail, which I thought was a nice service to provide.

After we came home for awhile, we decided to go celebrate Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A. We eat there more than any other fast food place, so why not join the party, right? If you dressed up like a cow, you would get a free meal, so we were all over that one.

Well, at least the younger two and I were... Ty and Jake thought that a chikin sammich wasn't worth their dignity, so they decided we were ridiculously uncool and kept their distance. Ha! I have no fear that they'll come out of this stage simply because it's in their genetic makeup to be a goober.

By the way, that's my front room if I may kill two birds with one stone (oops... that's a completely inappropriate analogy given the above content, huh?).

Anyway, we had a GREAT time when we got there. So many people were dressed in their various and sundry bovine digs, that it made the whole place happy and lighthearted. And who can't use some happy and lighthearted, huh?

Hope you're having a wonderful Friday!

Ignore Madame Pink Elephant, Please...

Let's pretend that it hasn't been almost 2 months since my last post, mkay? I can't believe how time flies, though, for realz.

I thought about telling you about how the USB thingie on my internet card got smooshed thereby leaving me without reliable internet for all of this time, but... well... it's boring. I'm all connected with a cable modem now, so all is right with the world. :)

Charter truly swooped in just at the brink of insanity though, because I tell ya, being without a viable alternative to television when Michael Jackson dies is something akin to waterboarding, I swear.

Anyhoo, we are all moved in to our new home now and we are VERY happy that the moving process is over! The last time I moved, I only (said loosely) had 2 small children and not nearly as much "stuff". Factor in 10 more years of marriage, 2 more kids, and homeschooling and packing was kind of overwhelming. But, it's done, and I actually really enjoy the process of unpacking. It's fun to find a new place for all of my old stuff.... kinda like rearranging a room, only with different walls... in a different neighborhood.... yeah. Someone will be able to relate despite my weirdo analogy, maybe?

One thing I absolutely love about this place is that the kitchen is perfect for having big dinners with lots of friends. I'm a firm believer that awesome friends and abundant food together, at regular intervals, make life way more sweet.

On that note, and to celebrate my recent reunion with the Food Network, I will give you a recipe that I made of Rachael Ray's that is a PERFECT side for a grill-out (or anything, really). Corn Muffins with Bacon Bits and Cheddar Cheese It's YUMM-O, as she says... and she is absolutely right.

Ok, I need to go get my boys from Summer Reading Program at the library. Hope you are all having a great Summer!