School Begins

Three backpacks were ready to go Thursday morning. UALR and Benton public schools began classes on the same day. Everyone was excited and ready to go. The morning routine is going well so far. The kids are responsible for much more this year. They have to be in order for everyone to be on time. This is probably a good thing for them. So far so good.

Sarah is a pro at elementary now. She is the big kid in the school this year. Her teacher is wonderful. She changes classes this year for the first time. Jamie is taking high school in stride. His schedule is a block schedule divided by semester. It is much more like a college schedule. The fall semester is loaded with math and science. These are definitely his strong points. His first experiences with Mr. Hillman are good. Jamie pulled Hillman aside on the first day and asked to be moved up to his AP class. Hillman examined his records and agreed. Mike got a call form the guidance counselor for his approval. I have not decided what I think about that yet. Smart, brave or crazy. The jury is still out.

I am trying hard not to be overwhelmed and take one day at a time. My favorite part so far are the students themselves. The first year students are an incredible mix of age, race and backgrounds. We have everything from marines to ministers in the program. I am all ears when anybody speaks. Lots of wisdom and experience surround me. This is good.

The very bad week.

This week has just been miserable. No photos wanted to celebrate this week. Here are a few random things from each day.

- It's 110 and miserable hot. I can't even do 5 minutes on the front porch swing at 6pm. It's a sauna.

-Mike got a speeding ticket while traveling. He discovered a nice speed trap in his rental car.

-My new e-reader the Nook messed up. I had to spend and hour on the phone with tech support.

-Sarah decided to look at the pictures on my camera. She managed to reformat the card. All the pictures of her 5th grade open house are gone. I am sick about this. I guess I'm not blogging about that event.

-Jamie passed the driving portion of his test on Monday. We went to have his license made on Wednesday. We discovered his permit expired the day before. He now has to start the entire process over from the beginning. He will have to retake the written part tomorrow. That was a very bad day. I went to Little Rock to the main office and begged them to give us grace for the one day. No go.

-We all start school this week. I am getting very nervous. Jamie begins high school with the notoriously tough Hillman. That alone has me terrified. I begin UALR classes and my internship this week. Big scary changes ahead for sure.

Next week has to be better.

Garage Sale Day Two

My favorite shopper today. She tried on all of my shoes. She walked really well in the heels.


She wanted to sit and work beside me. So of course I let her.


Sarah and Cloe bored to death. They sold about $10 total. Mike and I bought some of that. It was pitiful.

Good riddance!

I am so glad to be done !! It's such a big project. A full 40 hour work week for one sale. Lots of shoppers came today. If I would have had more stuff to sale I would have set a record this year. By 10 this morning I was cleaned out. Top sellers included scrapbook items, Sarah's clothes and decor. The men of course all asked for fishing gear and lawn mowers. People are fascinating. They bought rocks sitting on the edge of the driveway. I am serious. They just assumed they were for sale and I let people buy them. The fitness items as always you can't give away. The workout clothes and dvds went to Goodwill. Three ladies in particular were hateful as they bargained. People expect to buy leather coats for $1. I just look at them and say "It's leather and they look back and say "This is a garage sale." I could easily rant for a while on this topic but it's just part of it. I wish now with the amazing turn out I would have held firm on some things. I just have to think it all evens out in the end. You never know what people will go for and I hate to turn down any sale. On the positive side I talked with some delightful people. I discussed all things Chihuahua with one lady. Another lady took a tour of my scrap room she is a CTMH consultant. I am sure I will get to know her better. One lady bought items for her disabled students just to make their day. At least two people told me the stuff was going into their resale/antique booth. Hmmmmm. I could do that.

Garage Sale Day One

Today's sale went very well. It began at 6:30 am with people waiting in the driveway. A fast flurry of customers lasted until about 10 am and then again until I stopped at 12. The heat was bearable. It was cooler than any day yet this week. Sales were good. The typical stuff. "Will you sell me this leather coat for a $1?" and "Does this work?" I stayed very busy the whole time. This one cute boy was playing with every single toy. He was just delightful. I ran up the stairs to get my camera for a cute shot. One step down the stairs and the dreaded fog took over my lens. That makes me crazy. I could do nothing but wait 30 minutes and let it clear. It is not possible to move a camera from an air conditioned house out to the heat and humidity without waiting for the condensation to clear. By then the cute boy had long been gone. I did get a shot of this puppy who came with his owner. He stayed in front of the fan the whole time. What a smart dog.

Alyssa's Party

Alyssa Beggs is our neighbor and one of Sarah's very best friends. She is 2 years younger than Sarah but they play together happily almost every single day. They have been inseparable this summer. They also play with our neighbor Cloe. I asked Sarah the other day if they ever fought. I never here a snippy word or a bit of attitude. They are just 3 happy girls who love life. I am so thankful Sarah has them in her life. About two years ago Alyssa had a tumor removed from around her pituitary gland just between the brain lobes. A small amount of tumor is believed to remain. She takes medicine at least twice a day every day. You would never know any of this to see her playing. This weekend the Make a Wish Foundation surprised her with a party. We all met at Playtime Pizza to hear the big announcement. She was presented with a trip to Disney with her family. They treated her like a princess. She had presents and cake and unlimited play in the game room. We are so excited for her. I know the people at Disney will make it an incredible memory for her. I can't wait to see the pictures her mom takes.

Ready for guests.

Recently the washer at Mom and Dad's house busted a hose. This resulted in a small flood and a big mess. A massive clean up effort was begun. The insurance paid cleaners to come in and remove the carpet and remaining water. Bummer, not fun for anyone. The positive side of all the damage was the opportunity to install new floors and fresh paint. Everything had to be removed from the rooms to clean and dry them. Uncle Ben and Aunt Pat decided to come help us with this project. We are so thankful for their help. We accomplished so much together as a group. We spent the week going through 3 bedrooms and closets. The results are fabulous! The rooms look brand new. I took some pictures of the "coke" room. This used to be my bedroom when I lived at home. It is now a fun, kid ready spot for the grand kids to hang out. Dad has lots of fun collectibles in his Coke collection that were perfect to use in this room. Sarah loves the bunk beds. She can't wait for her cousins to visit in September. Big sleepover plans are already being made.

The Hipstamatic

I am totally in love with my new iphone app. It's the Hipstamatic. It is a super cool camera. You can change lenses, film, flashes and more. The look is very artsy and vintage. With the camera on my new version 4 phone they are good enough quality to print and use on a scrapbook page. I simply downloaded these and printed them on my home printer. No photo editing was needed. As if my family isn't already sick of me taking pictures of everything. These are a few I have played with and a layout I used some on. I will be using this a lot. My iphone just keeps getting better and better.

4th of July

Here are some shots I took before it got too dark. We started lighting fun things like parachutes and smoke bombs at dusk. I think the kids loved the smoke bombs more than anything else. They combined various colors at the same time. It was very pretty. Our neighbors the Beggs and the Mitchells came over to help celebrate the holiday. The flowers are from Trish's garden. We enjoyed ice cream sundaes and homemade cobbler. Mom and Dad stopped by to watch the big finale. Mike and Jamie put on quite the show. It was fun for the adults to visit and the kids had the best time together. I made the kids little goodie bags to put their stash in. Even Jamie joined in the badminton game.

Creating

A 2 page layout from our trip to the Memphis Zoo.


A patriotic layout from our Branson trip.



A mini book I am making for Sarah. It will have all of her dance pictures and recital stuff. Very cute and very fun!!!

Toyota Celica GT

Jamie has a new ride. Months of searching the car lots and internet have finally yielded a result. The winner of the exhaustive search is a very cute and sporty Celica. Mike is so good at this stuff. I would never have brought this thing home. It was nasty dirty. A solid week of elbow grease from the boys resulted in a very nice car. Jamie is practicing his driving every day and gearing up for his test in August. He will still have a restricted license until February. Jamie specifically wanted something small and easy to drive. The gas mileage is fabulous. Mike tried very hard to convince him he needed a truck but no go. Older cars were looked at but the newer models have more safety features. He debuted his new ride at the 4th of July picnic at the grandparents house.

Oulaw Fishfry/Reunion 2010

The family reunion was a huge success. It was hot and humid but also a rare opportunity to visit with loved ones. I loved it. It was so sun to see faces I have not seen for 8 to 10 years. That is way tooo long. I met family members for the first time. I had the great pleasure of taking everyones picture. I fell in love with the kids' sweet smiles. Cindy worked very hard to prepare a feast. She is amazing and I can't thank her enough for her efforts. I posted different pictures on facebook so check those out also. I tried to post a slideshow here but could not get it to work. I put it in dropbox to share with family and friends.

Random thoughts on the event: Children are so much more happy to have their picture taken. I am not sure who declared it red t'shirt/hat day but we did not get the memo. I have not seen that many smokers in one place ever. The air was so hot and humid my lens instantly fogged when I stepped one foot out of the door. I love, love, love my family and my hobby. The two together are perfection.

He's growing up fast.

He is going to high school in a matter of weeks. He is practicing driving. He is becoming so grown up. Here is a little digital layout to try to capture the moment a little.

Segway Layout

Cool scrapbook page of a very cool kid. No, I will not buy you a segway. I just want to take pictures. It's too bad Daddy wasn't there to ride with you. That really would have been a photo op.

Branson Fun

The Hollywood Wax Museum was a big hit with the kids. I was impressed with the variety of exhibits. Some looked amazingly real and some not so much.

Jamie is a huge movie fan. All of the big hits were on display here.


I love this photo op. Jamie is ready to beam up with Kirk and Spock.


"Who is she?" I thought my kids saw way too much tv. Maybe not as much as I believed.


Both kids thought the mirror maze was a fun challenge. I am just glad they were there with me. I probably would have never made it out.

Jamie's big opportunity to ride a Segway. He cruised around the park like an expert and loved it.


There was so much to do and see. We barely scratched the surface. The kids can't wait to go back. We also enjoyed some shopping. I was too busy to stop and take pictures at the scrapbook store.