September Whatth??

Eighteenth??

Are you kidding me? Where did the time go??

Oh my what have we been up to? Last weekend the Joes went on a trip: The Joes Big Tent Camping Trip. Uncle Joe made a huge list and gathered up items all week for our trip. I was very impressed. He thought of almost everything we would need for a two day outing to Greenleaf State Park in Braggs, OK.

He and the girls left to pick a good spot as soon as they got out of school, leaving me to get last minute items and my clothes packed after work. They didn't get there in time to get a spot with electricity but got a fabulous spot anyway. We were out of the way at the edge of the park. Good for quiet, not so good for trips up to the bathroom. (and we all know with children that means 800 trips to the bathroom)

We awoke to the morning sun shining on us over the lake and it was beautiful. (after a quite chilly night...UJ swears he told me to bring more blankets but I think we had a bad cell phone connection and I didn't hear that so he and I had to snuggle really close under one blanket.) Uncle Joe cooked some eggs for breakfast as the girls snoozed a bit. After breakfast he even made coffe on the fire. What a man! (and what Manly coffee he made! it put hair on my chest!)

There was t thief among the campers too. We woke up to a mess of peanut shells on our table. UJ was ready to scold the girls until he talked to our neighbors who suggested that raccoons had been by. Yep they were right. All of our bread was gone too. We found clues later to confirm it.

The girls and I had to run into town for some Weight Watcher friendly food for Mommy and more bread and by the time we got back it was lunch time and we had company arriving!

Ted and Teddy came to visit followed shortly by my dad, then UJ's mom, sister and two nieces. We had a good visit and UJ, Teddy, Ted and I all played catch for about 45 minutes. My arms were noodley the next day when I tried to play catch again with Carly. The girls had a fawn walk right up to them to taste of Cousin Elle's apple. I guess those deer have it all figured out: where people are, there is food!!

The next day Cassidy and I walked around the park with Shelby , our new dog, and made friends everywhere we went. Kids+dog = instant friends!

We packed up the stuff and headed home and are looking forward to our next trip. I hope it is soon. I really had a good time.

Whew!

Yesterday I volunteered (well....with pay) to help one of my uncles do a catering. I really had no idea how much they would need me. I thought it would be a couple of hours, so that is what I was mentally prepared for.

I went at 3pm and got home at 9pm. It was a frenzy of food! Cheese was flying this way and that as I flung it on the twice baked new potatoes. The marinara was flowing as it was poured over sliced zuccini. Cooking spray fumes filled the air as we sprayed cooking sheets to bake bacon wrapped shrimp. I didn't even have time to go to the restroom until we got home. We hit the door running and didn't stop. I didn't realize how badly I had to "go" until I was driving home and had to make an emergency stop at Mom's.

I was not prepared to be out in the reception with the guests. I was dressed in shorts and tennies and an apron for cryin' out loud! There was no one else to help so I HAD to be out there. I tried to be invisible but you know how it is in a small town......"JOSEFINA!! I didn't know you did this!" Of course I saw every one I knew and was horrified that I looked so out of place. Oh well.....in my opinion, there should have been some better communication from my uncle who was "in charge".

He did get several offers to cater more events and I don't know if I will help out again or not. I will let you know after I get my check. :0) haha Oh, and I am charging him extra for the anxiety he gave me cutting it so close. We were putting the final food items in the warmer just minutes before the guests came in. We made it by the skin of our taters.

I went home and unloaded my left overs on UJ who ate them gladly and fell into bed exhausted.

Hmm

Wow I have blogging for two years!

Cool.

Happy Belated BloggerDay to me!

Glory Bee!!

Saturday afternoon, I decided to go to Tulsa. Why you ask?? I wanted to get a new digi camera at BestBuyorCircuitCityorSamsWholesaleClub.

UJ didn't sleep well...er rather he slept too well and way too late so he felt bad. There is something terribly wrong with that. When you sleep late you should feel GOOD, not bad! I hate it when that happens. Needless to say he was not his normal cheery self. (*snicker*)

I pulled out all the stops to convince him to go shopping with us. I whined, I cried, I showed leg, cleavage and the man must be made of steel because he turned down a 2 hour drive with 3 females to go shopping. Can you believe the self control this man must have?? This adventure even included a late lunch! Oh well, his loss. haha

We arrived in Tulsa famished from they days activities at home so we went to IHOP. Not my favorite, but the girls picked it. It was their turn to pick so I couldn't say anything except, "Check please." Cassidy and Carly ordered breakfast items while I opted for a yummy turkey samich. With our tummies full and bladders empty we headed to search for the camera.

Pit stop: Old Navy where my daughters managed to get two outfits each from the sale racks...Mom: nothing

Sams: it was a bust. nothing in our price range

Best Buy: BINGO!! Exactly what I wanted we chose wisely, bought the protection plan (since I lost my last digital camer to a few drops of water) and were on our way to the next stop: Woodland Hills mall.

By this time it is 8pm and we all know the malls close at 9pm so we had to hurry. Carly came prepared with her money that she earned the night before, but was reluctant to spend it. She would have rather spent mommy's money. haha what teenager wouldn't?

She found a couple of nice shirts at Aeropostale and Cassidy found some Princess figurines at The Disney Store. I was happy knowing that my camera awaited me in the car.

I have taken a few pictures but forgot to down load them before writing this post, so you will have to wait.

Stay tuned for pictures of Kai and his favorite Aunt SuSu. Tomorrow we will be dining with the Jory-San family before they depart for home in Japan.

That's all I have to tonight folks....g'nite.

Fry Day

Wow. Another week gone! The days fly by.....

I am just letting my thoughts wander tonight. Let's see where we end up shall we??

Go say Hi to Badoozie....she needs some cheering up.

My neighbor had a 4-D ultrasound this week and you would not believe the clarity of the pictures. You can see Baby Emily's nostrils!! How cool those things must be. Her US was totally for entertainment. Everything is going fine and Emily is still baking nicely.

Baby Kai loves all his Okie family. He is such a good baby and loves looking and laughing at us. I want to see him more and am restraining myself from hovering over them while they are here for their visit from Japan. They will be here one more week then back they go until Christmas-time.

Speaking of Christmas, how many shopping days are left? I should start saving now. My daughters are getting old enough that their "toys" are getting more and more expensive. :o)

CarlyJo locked herself out of her ipod. I should google a solution.

Uncle Joe had DirectTV installed this week. I haven't seen him since. haha Really it is a nice package, but who needs all those channels?? It does have a dvr so he can record things for me. Hey, Leslee there is a whole channel devoted to GH Today! You would love it.

I am going to attempt to sew some curtains for my kitchen this week. I have never sewed in my life. They may end up stapled together. :o)

We got a huge box of almonds from California this week. What a treat and what a yummy box!! We have had fun fun fun tasting all the different flavors. So far my fave is Razzberry Cheesecake. Check them out here.

We had a scare this week. One of CarlyJo's friend stepped on our cellar door and it collapsed. Kaitlin was not hurt, other than a nasty scrape to her belly and elbows THANK GOD. I am surprised UJ's defibrillator did not go off as scared as they all were.

Have you ever felt invisible? Sometimes I do.

My brain is tired and it wants to sleep now.

I will be attending a ladies retreat at my church tomorrow morning. Brunch, music and inspiration....sounds like a winner to me. :o)

Have a great weekend.

test

Rockin Saturday

Today my dad and I are going to a rock sale. What??!! I love rocks. Always have. My Nan loved rocks too. That must be where I get it from. I can remember sitting in her driveway when I was a little girl picking out all the smooth brown rocks. When we go to the Barren Fork Creek my cousin, Bret, and I always hunt for rocks with holes in them. I always come home with a sack full of rocks for Nan's rock garden that remains in front of our house. Bret's son, Blake also loves rocks. He once received a large bag of rocks from Nan as a birthday gift and absolutely loved it. When he comes to visit I always let him pick out a rock from the rock garden to take home.

CarlyJo wants to put something else there, but I am not ready to get rid of it yet. It has to be my idea and I am not ready to give it up yet. I think it will stay for a while longer and I will be adding some more rocks to it today. :o)

#14 on the 14th

Today is our 14th anniversary.

'bout this time 14 years ago we were sharing our first meal as a married couple: two Hardee's burgers and fries.

:o) I love you Joe.

Hurry Up and Wait!

Is anyone else waiting with bated breath for the new Casting Crowns album??

I thought it was being released yesterday and went on a search for it, only to find out it is TWO more weeks away. Ahhhhh!!

They are so awesome and have such a great message. I know that God will speak to me through their songs.....He always does.

Just wondering

When you eat a cinnamon roll or sweet roll, do you eat it in concentric circles or just dive in and eat it??

I eat around it in concentric circles. :o)

My CarlyJo

Here is Carly at church camp this summer. I look at it and wonder; WHERE DID MY BABY GIRL GO!!?? When did she turn in to this tweenager? She still has the cute little cowlick and the freckle on her cheek that I love to kiss.

*Sigh* Time sure does fly.......

You would think

You would think that with the huge doses of cough medicine I have been taking all week I would be passed out by 9pm. Nope, I have not been bed before midnight one night this week.

The girls are starting school in two weeks. Uncle Joe is counting the days. I can't believe we made it again. This summer has blown by so fast! It seems as though at my age time flies whether you are having fun or not.

Jory San, Noriko and Baby Kai will be arriving in two weeks as well. I am looking forward to seeing them again. It has been a year since I have seen Jory last and my lips are quaking in anticipation of kissing that Kai!

that is about all I can muster up tonight. I am outside on my laptop and the monster mosquitoes are about to carry me away......

Stupid Germs

Dang germs! The girls and I were supposed to meet Leslee and Peanut for dinner at Sam & Ella's tonight but Leslee called and she has strep throat and I am still feeling a little under the weather myself. We decided we wouldn't be so generous as to share our germs with each other and our children, so we postponed the visit til next time.

*Sniff*

Heavy Breather

Last night something very frightening happened to me.

I went to bed about midnight after a rousing round of Wii games with Uncle Joe. I was bright eyed and bushy tailed due to the Albuterol Inhaler I have been huffing. I settled down into bed and finally went to sleep only to be awakened by myself gasping for air at 2am.

I can usually shake it pretty easily by sitting up and sipping a bit of water and breathing really slow. Not this time. I walked into the living room....well stumbled is more like it. I know I must have had a terrified look on my face when I looked at Joe. I needed my inhaler and didn't see my purse.

I tried to stay calm but didn't do a very good job. I got the inhaler and took a couple of puffs. After a few minutes of it calming a bit but not going away, Joe made an executive decision and called Mom to come and sit with the girls while he took me to the ER. Mom had a better idea: go to the EMS station a mile away and let them check me out. (I was all for that since going to ER would mean the rest of the night over there and really no guarantee they could even do anything.)

We arrived to a dark station and knocked on the door. My friend, Mike was the Paramedic on duty. That was a good thing. :o) They hooked me up to a pulse ox monitor and it was fine. EKG fine. I knew I had a good heart. haha.. I was able to tell them everything that happened but got short of breath just speaking, so they gave me an Albuterol breathing treatment, which helped open my airway up and I was able to breathe again. Thank God. Aside from a bit of diminished lung sounds on one side I was fine and avoided going to the ER and saving myself a boat load of money. This is one of the GREAT things about living in a small town. :o)

When I got to work I checked with the Physicians Assistant that treated me and told him what happened. We looked at an updated xray and he decided to change my antibiotics. I think I feel a bit better already. I did go and invest in a humidifier that will sit on my bedside tonight. ( I just sold our other one in the garage sale since we hadn't used it in years! Bonus: I found on on clearance at Walgreens!! cha-ching!)

Right now I am sitting outside breathing the nice moist night air and it feels good. I haven't coughed much tonight. I don't want to wake up like that ever again. I am pretty sure that is the scaredest I have ever been.

Thank you Lord for looking out for me, providing me with Joe to take care of me and for the EMS guys who were available to help out a heavy breather. :o)

Hoarse of course

I have been coughing and hacking since we were in Hickville last week and my voice slowly faded to a whisper. (Joe has been very happy.) I am usually very healthy so this all caught my by surprise. I coughed and would lose my breath and got pretty frightened especially at night when being unable to breathe woke me up.

After fighting it on my own for at least 3 days I finally got some medical attention today. Sounds easy since I work in a medical clinic.....but no. We have been so busy with all the OTHER sick people, I didn't get treated. Today I took matters in my own hands and asked for a chest xray and was the last patient of the day.

I have "either late bronchitis or early infiltrate". Sounds yucky, but the meds are working and I am praising Albuterol Inhaler and really enjoying the cough medicine! :o) I am on the mend, but haven't felt up to my usual. Uncle Joe has cooked supper AND cleaned up every night this week, and boy do I appreciate that.

The girls are in swim lessons this week and next week, so they get up early and go to Aunt Andi's to ride with Elle and Alli to lessons. They are having fun and getting a little sun. CassiJo is still trying to work up her courage to dive (and not belly flop) into the pool. Carly is honing her already adequate swim skills. UJ picks them up mid morning and they gallyvant around the rest of the day.

In other news~
JorySan and his family are coming home next month. We are all very excited to see Baby Kai for the first time. I hope he likes me.

My cough medicine is really working well and my eyes are getting very heavy......so I am off to enjoy this buzz before it wears off.

A Hickville Hootenanny

Uncle Joe, The Little Jo Girls and I are on vacation in Hickville USA. It is about a half of a tank of gas away from our home in Green Country and has several activities and attractions that we wanted to share with the girls.

I googled a map and had a plan for the trip, the promptly forgot to bring it with us. I was captain and UJ was the navigator. He chose a route that APPEARED to be quick on the atlas we had in the car. He later informed me, after mile after mile of windy, curvy, hilly roads that he didn't have his glasses on otherwise he would have notice it said SCENIC route. It was nice for the first few miles, then all that Diet Pepsi hit me. Then it was torture every mile. I stopped at the first convenience store in the middle of the woods.

We came into Hickville and Uncle Joe said, "You know who lives here don't you? Jamie Dawn."

I wondered if she and her family were up to a blogger meet, so I emailed her as soon as we got to the hotel, and waited with bated breath til morning. I got up first thing and checked my email and she agreed!! We were so excited :o) What a pleasant surprise!

We went to a local amusement park today and had a ball. They had two water rides that kept us cool and a nice water park that we didn't have the energy to play in. I had to drag CassiJo out crying for the water park. I had to promise to take her to Big Splash in Tulsa when we got back. It was just too hot for us and we had to get ready for our blogger meet!

Jamie Dawn and her family arrived at our hotel at 7pm on the dot. We were in the lobby incognito but she recognized us right away. It must have been UJ's Batman shirt that gave us away. She came bearing gifts of, you guessed it: truffles! and almonds from her familys farm in California.

She was tall just like I thought she would be and her family was just beautiful. You can tell they love each other very much and are very close.

We followed them to a wonderful restaurant on the lake...and I mean right ON the lake. We were seated right on the water on the "porch". The food was wonderful. I had "herb encrusted tilapia" and Jamie Dawn had sweet potatoe fries. They may sound kind of odd, but take our word, they are fabulous!
We had a great visit, and talked about all kinds of things. I think I probably jabbered. I usually do when I am nervous. The girls were a little subdued in the company of new friends, but soon warmed up. Cassidy warmed up so much she sang her rendition of "Oklahoma" for JamieDawn before we left. :o)

We both got pictures of our group, so stay tuned!

Thanks for taking time to meet us Jamie.! We hope to do it again some day. Maybe at Bloggerstock '08! :o)

The Graduate 20 Years Later

Here is a photo from the reunion held Saturday night.

This is my friend, Shanna. We attended school from 1st grade all the way through 12th grade together. :o)

*corrected thanks to Susie! haha*

Class Reunion

1987 was the year and I was a senior in High School.

Last night we had our informal class reunion at the Field House at the High School here in Ft. Gibson. We had a large turn out since it was a free event and children were welcomed. :o)

I am on the planning committee so yesterday was a very busy day buying door prizes and making last minute arrangements. Thank goodness for CarlyJo! She went along with me to help set up. My partner in crime Angela (or Peanut as we called her in school) brought her two children, Shelby and Caleb, and we had the place looking festive with school spirit pretty quick.

I don't understand it, but most of the absentee classmates were ones that live in our area. I guess they see each other enough on a daily basis. We threatened to go to their houses and crash them.....wouldn't that be mean?? (but SO funny!)

I tried to talk my Best Friend, Mindi (Min) into coming, but she wouldn't. I begged her too! I am glad I get to see her on a weekly basis, but I know there are others that would love to see her too!

Tonight is our Adults-only dinner and that has me a little anxious too. Oh well, when I get anxious I tend to clean and disappear into the back ground. At least the banquet hall will be clean. :o)

I hope to have some pictures later.

Uncle Joe and all the Girl-Jo's will be on a mini vacay til Wednesday so pray for our travel safety.....I'll be driving.

Have a great weekend y'all.

~Tawni Camille Smith~

Saturday evening one of my little cousins drowned in a terrible accident. Her name was Tawni Camille. A little sprite of a girl who was the apple of her daddy's eye.

She and her family were playing at a low water bridge in Fort Gibson. Her parents had warned the children about the dangers of the current, especially near a washed out area that created a whirlpool where the water was making its way under the concrete slab that made the low water bridge. Their attention was drawn away for a few minutes and the strong current pulled her under. They never heard a sound.

Rescuers from 2 counties came at the call for help and they searched for her over an hour.

She was 8 years old.

Please remember her family in your prayers. They do not have a church family and are having a very difficult time. They are surrounded by our HUGE family and have found comfort with each visit.

Whole Lotta Work

For a litta bitta cash!

I decided to clean out the garage this past week and sell what we didn't need out of there. (Isn't is amazing how we can determine others posessions to be garage sale fodder much easier than we can our own?) "If we haven't needed it by now, we don't need it any more!" was my slogan for the week. I have made a huge dent in out there and I am very proud of my dent if I do say so myself. My garage is now empty enough that I could have the next sale at my house instead of my parent's house. :o)

Carly will be home from her first week away at church camp. They went to Falls Creek in Davis Oklahoma. It rained alot (that is actually an understatement...we are neare flood stage!)this week here in Oklahoma so I am sure they had a water logged time. I only heard from her one time!! I am not sure if that makes me happy or sad!! That meant she was either having a fabulous time or duct taped to the bunk! I cannot wait to hear the stories. I bet we talk a mile a minute when she gets home tomorrow.

Cassidy will be selling cookies and lemon aide for those of you who might be available to stop by the garage sale tomorrow. They will be the best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip or Sugar Cookies you have ever had. Promise!! (and if you find an eggshell in your cookie you get a prize!)

Uncle Joe and I had to take Charlie Cat to the vet today. Seems his Cat Cage Fighting caught up with him in the form of an infected eye injury. He will be in the Animal Hosptital all weekend for a surgical procedure to remove all the infection and some TLC and pain meds. We knew he wasn't feeling well when he didn't fight going into the cat carrier. Last time he had a ringtail fit and ran away from the vet's office as they tried to get him in there. (The receptionist was very upset about that as it was her FIRST DAY ON THE JOB!)

Me? I am just enjoying the day off. We shut down today's sale about noon-thirty and now I have some free time to enjoy.

I am still kicking

I have not fallen off the face of the earth, just busy.....

Mom was in the hospital for two days this week. A terrible bout of colitis had her writhing in abdominal pain and Dad finally got her to go to to the ER Monday afternoon. After waiting over 5 hours, she finally got to see a doctor. (My and My SIL's diagnosis of diverticulitis was almost right!) She was given some wonderful pain med via iv and had a ct scan and it confirmed colitis. She had iv antibiotics for 48 hours and was sent home to a bland diet for 2 weeks. She is not happy about that, but is complying nicely. Thanks for all your prayers when our need went out. :o)

UJ took me and Cassidy to a Burn Out contest last night her in Fort Gibson. I have never been to one, but it was kinda fun! There were several cars, some entering more than once, that were very impressive! The lone female driver was my favorite. She had a black pick up and did really well. She made it to the finals, but did not place. There was a 5 way tie for first place. So, they had to split the $500 pot 5 ways. Dang! I bet they were a little miffed.

Left: one of the winners

Right: the amount of smoke he produced stopped traffic on the highway!

I had a covert picture of some interesting pants I saw on a young girl, but I guess I accidentally deleted it. I was so afraid I would be caught trying to take the picture by the people standing behind me, but i did it! I was so proud. She had ripped her jeans and laced them back up with a strand of velvet cord leaving a big gap showing her leg. She had on black panty hose.....complete with the panty part showing. (c'mon!! sheer hose woman!!) there were also several hundred safety pins holding various other holes and rips shut.

I wish I had been able to get a pic of one of the judges. He has the best helmet hair I have seen in a long time. It was lacquered and full.

So......today is the Car Show down town. We may head down there and check it out too. UJ got interested in all the old trucks. We have a '47 Ford he has dreamed of getting fixed up.......

Have a great weekend y'all. Tell your Daddy you love him.

PS:My parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary is today! I am so proud of them. My mother should be sainted for putting up with my Dad for 40+years. :o) haha He came by my office yesterday for flower advice. He wanted me to pick up something for Mom and I refused. I know that his effort to go pick out the flowers and deliver them is what will make her happy. :o)

Wii and Mii

Uncle Joe went shopping today and came home with a Wii. He and the girls have been playing it all evening. I think it is great since it combines SOME physical activity with video games.

If you don't know, you have a "mii" , an electronic representation of yourself to play with in the game. You design your "mii" to look like you. Uncle Joe's was pretty accurate, what with the bald head and all it wasn't too hard. Carly's mii has big eyes just like hers, and Cassidy's hair looks a lot like hers. I just couldn't get mine right. The eyes were very hard to choose......beauty is hard to duplicate. *snickering* haha

We just finished a week of VBS. We being my children and my mother. They had a lot of fun, but I believe the adults are totally glad they are done!! The music was great and I expect that we will be hearing it being sung at the top of Cassidy's lungs for months. :o) There was two songs that I loved and learned pretty quick when I went up to help today. It always chokes me up to see all those kids up on stage singing their hearts out to Jesus. Cassidy gave her heart to Him today. What a great day this turned out to be!

Carly was a helper the whole week and her teacher, Mrs. Joyce said she was a huge help. There were a couple of kids who took a shining to her and kinda wallered her all week. (Just a preview of parenthood I say!)

I WAS going to take some time off next week to be with my hubby while my children are at Branson Missouri with my parents for their annual get away, but my request was not approved. Dang it!! I was looking forward to some uninterrupted time with UJ.

Summer School has started and Cassidy attends from 8-12 Monday - Thursday. She gets up so nicely so far! I hope it continues. It is easy to stay up too late at night since it is summer break.....so we are working on staying on schedule.

I am very sleepy at this moment and will go to bed now.


Good night Y'all!

Haiku

Rain fell on the floor
the thunder made a noise
the lightening flashed

~by Cassidy
Age 7

Happy Boobah!

Uncle Joe had another boobah today!!

The girls and I were naughty and stayed home from church today so we could be home to enjoy Joe ALL DAY. A whole day of birthday togetherness was just about too much to handle!!

I made a nummy lunch and dessert (and can you believe I forgot to put the candles on the cake? i made a special trip to get them and then forgot them! I am not even sure where they are at this moment)

We rested and let our meal settle then went to see Shrek the Third. It was pretty cute. Since we had just eaten we didn't pig out on the normal movie fare of Dots and/or M&M's and popcorn and pop. We just shared a large pop. (soda for you northerners) Well having to children who are afraid it" isn't going to be FAIR if she gets more than me" they swigged all the drink and had to go to the bathroom 3 times!!

Leslee: we had a Twisted Joe pretzel in your honor before we left too! :o)

When we left there we decided to to a bit of shopping for supper and stopped at Albertsons where my wits almost ended. We got some sandwich fixin's and headed home to enjoy the rest of the day with Joe.

Happy Birthday Joe! I hope you had fun..........

Flat Stanley, Major Ladies Man

Flat Stanley went to church with us. He captured the heart of Miss Allie in a flash.











Next he flirted with the preachers daughter, Taylor. They have agreed to stay in touch after Stanley has to return home.













Stanley and CarlyJo found a frog in our back yard. Stanley wanted to keep the frog in the house, but I had to put my foot down and say no. They will just have to visit Mr. Frog Legs in his natural habitat.













Stanley found a jumpin little juke joint. He made friends with the "interesting" musician playing there. What song to you think they are singing??









Thanks to CassiJo, Stanley had a nutritious breakfast every morning of his visit.

Stanley will be traveling back home this weekend. He is getting a little tire of his travels and is missing home and his friends and family. He has asked to take Allie and Taylor home with him, but the girls have prior engagements this summer and weren't too crazy about having flat hair ALL the time. :o)

Thanks for visiting Stanley!!

Cassi-ism

Today after spending the afternoon taking dance class pictures Cassidy and I stopped at Braums for an ice cream cone. ( I recommend the Cappaccino Chunky Chocolate) Cassidy chose Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough on a waffle cone. They don't put kiddie size portions in those huge waffle cones, so I opted for sugar cones for our little balls of joy.

Cassidy is enjoying her cone and almost done with it when in true sugar cone fashion, it cracked and a piece broke off. She said, "Mom this wheat cone sure is tender!"

I think she is on to something.

Happy Mudders Day

I would be very sad if I were this mudder's Mother. :o)

Seriously, though:

To My Mother:

It has taken me my whole adult life to comprehend all you did for us, taking care of us and making our house a home, making sacrifices for us and teaching us to always do the right thing. Thank you for all you do for us to this day. Your help is welcomed and very much appreciated. I am so proud to call you my mother. You are a wonderful woman and I love you very much.

Thank you for making me laugh, letting me cry and for being my friend.

Love,

Suzy

Seven The Perfect Number

Here is my meme tagged by Leslee:

Write 7 random facts about you and tag 7 people to play along
I could write more, but you might puke. haha

1. I have freckles between my toes

2. My nose is crooked and I didn't notice until 3 years ago when looking at a photograph. One of my eyes is weird too. I am a mutant.

3. I blush very easily.

4. I was in the Colorguard in Highschool. I was the first rifle twirler. I loved it and still have my rifle and can still twirl it. You may think of us as band geeks but we had so much fun and those kids were some of the best kids in the school. :o) I was even Captain one year, and Band Queen the next. I was totally embarrassed and totally honored. I was terrified to kiss my escort, Rusty. I think I turned 9 shades of red. See #3

5. I love chocolate and think that I have to have some every day.

6. When we go to steak restaurants I always order chopped steak. It makes Joe laugh. When we were in Texas for the Jazz Fest, Terry and Sharon took us to Haufbrau for lunch on Sunday. When I ordered chopped steak they laughed. There may have been some money exchanging hands in payment of a bet, I don't know, but I think Joe won. He knows me like a book and I like that.

7. I can tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue. It is a special talent that my friends Linda and Deanna taught me. I demonstrated it for BaDoozie and Dylan when they came. Dylan wasn't impressed.

Tagging: Joe, Carly, ANP, Carol, Ted, Anne and who ever else wants to play.

You can leave your answers in my comments. :o)

Show me the money!!

Prayers are answered!

In our mailbox!

Blessings with dollar signs!

Thanks Uncle Sam!

Mow is Me

Whew! Uncle Joe started mowing the lawn while I was working at the office today and I finished it up when I got home. The mower only bogged down 88 times. Way better than I expected. You see, it has been raining a lot here and our yard seems to hold water longer than most.....and the yard grew quite a bit.


The most terrible thing happened too. I'll make a long, sad story short: Baby bird fell out of nest. Move trampoline to mow. Screeching AJ. Poor baby bird!

Highball!

We made it safely home from our trip about 745pm tonight. Sadly we missed CassiJo's musical at church. I made myself sick on the way home worrying about it, but thankfully, she was not to upset with us. (as a matter of fact, after kissing the car window when we drove up, the first thing she asked about was what we brought her. :o) that's a kid for you!)

We had a really nice relaxing time at the Jazz Fest. The weather was absolutely perfect for sitting outside. Nice and sunshiney with an occassional breeze to cool us off. The area we chose to sit in also had intermittant shade throughout the day so that was nice also, especially for us fair skinned chicks. Uncle Joe has already started working on his farmers tan so he just got a bit more tanned on his baldy cranium, thanks to the sunscreen he slathered on.

Our friends, Terry and Sharon from Benbrook came down midday and enjoyed all the music with us. They came down last year also and we all looked forward to being together again. (Terry and Uncle Joe went to school together)

We listened to Nawlins Gumbo Kings, Rosana Eckert and annagrey among others. They were all good and each brought a different flavor of music to the festival. I don't thinkI could pick a favorite if you asked me to, so don't. haha Terry enjoyed Rosana Ecker so much he asked for her autograph. He was too shy to go ask for it so Sharon and I accepted the mission and camped out at the musician's gate and obtained the coveted autograph thanks to a kind gate keeper guy named Chip.

When we returned from the mission, Annagrey was onstage and they guys announced "I think we want to stay for a while and hear the next set. " Click on her link and you will see why. She is very beautiful and has a beautiful voice. I was glad we stayed when it was all said and done.

We split up girls/guys and headed home to Terry and Sharon's home, about 45 minutes away. Sharon and I were on the highway and ran into a traffic jam and ended up taking a long short-cut home.....seems everyone and their Aunt Mildred had the same idea we did. We did have an interesting sight on the way home though: a motorcycle rider passed us, turned to look over his shoulder as if he was expecting some friends, then put his bootie in the air, his right knee on the seat of the cycle and proceeded to ride the longest wheelie i have ever seen! I think he saw how hawt we were and was showing off for us. I tried to grab my camera phone to get a shot but it was too dusky. It really was a spectacular wheelie.....

Sharon and I also talked about a trip back to Texas this summer with the girls in tow. She thought of several activities we could do, all with in minutes of their home. The US Mint, The Fort Worth Zoo and Six Flags Over Texas, Texas Ranger baseball and huge malls! :o)

We had a great late dinner at Olive Garden and had a good time messing with the young waiter. When he came to talk to us his voice went down at least one octave and Terry teased him unmercifully. We gave him a nice tip to make up for it. :o)

By the time we got home, we were tuckered out from the sun and the good food we had in our tummies, but managed to stay up and laugh some more. I got the best seat in the house : a recliner with a massage pad in it. (i sat in it for about 40 minutes and was all nice and relaxed for bed.)


It was a great weekend and great company. The closer I got to home the more I wanted to see our girls. They were very happy to see us and had a great time with Nana and Papa. Carly got to make some money while we were gone, and you can imagine how happy that makes a tweenager! Cassi and Nana had fun at chior and a full day of church today. I know Nana and Papa really enjoy having them around, but I am sure they enjoy it when they go home too. :o) haha

P.S. Highball! Is a railroader's term, and I will have to get a recap on what it actually means from Terry as I (in true form) don't remember. :o)

All that, and Jazz

This is what we will be listening to ALL DAY tomorrow here in Denton. I can't wait for a day in the sun with some good music, a good book, good food and great company.

We arrived in Denton mid afternoon and after we got settled in the hotel we ventured out for some great Thai food at Siam House. This is the second time we have visited this great place. It is decorated very eclectically and the service is very personal. The owner is the host and server and came to our table several times to visit and ask questions. He did do something very odd though. He use the word "aye" alot. It seemed funny to me and I smiled when he said it. It just didn't fit his persona. I had the Pad Thai...my favorite dish. I just can't get away from it. Maybe if we had the opportunity to have it more I would venture out a bit. UJ had some kind of curry chicken dish and it was pretty good too. (but not too filling as we had to stop @ Krystal for a small bag-o-burgers on the way home after some shopping)

We also got to do a little shopping in the huge malls surrounding our hotel. One mall was really horrible for us and didn't really have any stores we enjoyed except Barnes & Noble. Couldn't you just stay there all day looking at those books?? I overheard some employees talking:

Man: "Do you know where my list is?"

Woman: "You probably laid it down on some books. I do that all the time....leave something to look at an interesting new book."

They sounded like 'perfect' book store employees don't you think??

There is lots of traffic here and I think my driving may have made Uncle Joe a tiny bit nervous. I don't know why. ;o)

Ok I am off to enjoy a long hot bath and some cable tv, and what ever else comes up.

Good night to all near and far........

Kai Love You

Here is our new baby, Baby Kai, my nephew. Isn't he just the sweetest thing you have seen??

I think he is dreaming of coming to see us, or maybe just the next time he gets to nurse. :o)

BaDoozie Quizzicals

remember you asked for it, so you have to answer these...heehee ~BaDoozie

1. Whats the longest you've gone without a shower in your life?
Maybe 48 hours when I was sick. A shower after being sick feels SOOOOO good.

2. If you were starving and dehydrated, with no help in sight wouldyou drink your own urine?
Yikes! I am pretty sure NO.

3. Who is your favorite boss of all time?
Dr. Tom Morgan hands down. He genuinely cared for us and took care of us. We worked hard for him and made him alot of money and kept patients happy.

4. What is your most annoying habit?
Holding back for fear of rejection


5. If given a choice between duct tape or a ball of twine, whichwould you chose and why
Duct tape for sure. It is very versatile; you can form clothing and other neato
items from it. It is also very hard for children to get off their mouths.


DIRECTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW MEME
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someoneelse in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask themfive questions.

Ted is Jammin'

Our very own Ted has made the paper! Look at his article here

Ted we pray that God has his hand on your project and that He provides for you and your music in a BIG way. :o)

P.S. I have kept my schedule open if you need a DooWap Girl :o) heehee

Gotta love duct tape!

This is Megan and her prom date in DUCT TAPE PROM WEAR!! Is this not hilarious!? She goes to my church and is a doll. I don't know him at all but he must be pretty cool to wear a tape suit for his girl. I will have to ask her how she made this when I see her Sunday morning. :o)

Here are some more interesting duct tape dates.

These Shoes

These shoes make me happy when I wear them.

I found them last weekend and plan on wearing them to The Denton Jazz Fest next weekend.

I think I broke my baby toe yesterday. It turned purple while I was at work and now it hurts inside my happy shoes.

Our friends, Prayerful Mom & Dad came over last night and had supper waiting on me when I got home from work...how awesome is that?? Steak, potatoes and salad, and of course Diet Pepsi to drink! :o)

Hope you all have a great weekend. We are off to Old Fort Days later to check out some old fashioned people and crafts. I like the kettle korn. :o)

Anticipation

My Brother In Law, Jory-San and his wife Noriko had their baby this week-a boy! They live in Japan so we are having to enjoy him via the internet. There are kiss marks all over all my computer screens. It is very embarassing.

He was born April 11th and weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces and was 19.1 inches long.....quite a long little guy to have been born 3 weeks early and to my petite SIL Noriko!

What?? His name?? It has not been announced yet. The anticipation is great!! Why? A name is very important and has to "fit" you know. Jory and Noriko had several chosen but wanted to see my nephew first before chosing. Choosing a Japanese name is a bit more involved than just choosing a name they like he tells me. They have to consider the characters in the name and in his case it also has to be a name that his Oklahoma family can pronounce. :o) They want his name to be Bi-National either in full or as a shortened version. He gave this example: A Japenese name like Kenji shorted to Ken would sound American. I did get one tiny hint: the name they have narrowed down to has a coincidental link to his Oklahoma family. Of course, being an out-law, I have no clue what this could be.

So for now, he is Baby-San

I will refrain from posting a picture, so Jory can be first to show off his little papoose. I will tell you he is beautiful and I just know his head smells good. :o)

Baby-San, can you say Aunt Su Su??

Well I Never:

Here is a new meme from Beanie

LIST FOUR SENTENCES YOU'VE NEVER SAID BEFORE:
1. No, Uncle Joe I don't want to ......you know.
2. Again??
3. No, I don't want a warm chocolate chip cookie.
4. I have too much money in the bank??

LIST ANY NUMBER OF SONG TITLES THAT DESCRIBE HOW YOU'VE FELT THIS WEEK:
1. Quando , Michael Buble
2. Pseusudio, Phil Collins
3. Consuming Fire, Third Day
4. All My Tears, Selah

IMAGINE YOU'RE HAVING THE IDEAL PERFECT DAY. WHAT FOUR THINGS WOULD YOU BE DOING
1. Reading a book
2. On a sandy beach
3. in a bikini
4. lookin hot and thin-ish (Hey it's MY perfect day......)

MAKE UP FIVE CREATIVE NAMES FOR A NEW ROCK BAND:
1. Big Girl Panties
2. Moey and a Dude
3. Crosstown Musicworks
4. Tonedef Crowd
5. Major Jam

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU GET TO GO BACK IN TIME AND ENSURE THAT THREE SONGS WERE NEVER WRITTEN, THUS SPARING HUMANITY FROM EVER HAVING TO HEAR THEM. WHAT THREE SONGS WOULD GET THE AXE?
1. Oops I Did it Again, Britney Spears
2. I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston
3. Party All the Time, Eddie Murphy

It's all in the ring

Don't you find it funny to be in a quiet office and this prissy proper person standing in front of you has a cell phone ringing to Nickelback's Rock Star?? I do.

Can't you tell alot about a person by their cell phone ring? You can deduce what kind of music they like, how good their hearing is and what they think of the caller, all in one tiny little ring.

I don't have a crazy ring tone yet. I am still searching for that perfect one to describe me. Maybe "Feelin Good" by Michael Buble?? Susudio by Phil Collins...BTW I know I spelled it wrong.....

What is your ring tone and for whom doeth it chime??

Four O'clock

I got a pot-o-four-o'clocks today.

Leslee swung by on her way to visit her family in Tahlequah and we had a good visit and a good supper at Charlies Chicken.

Why is it though that kids want to be right in the middle of the conversation when there are perfectly good rooms to play in that are full of toys?? Cass had someone to play with and where did she perfer to be?? Right between me and Leslee while we were visiting. Go figure.

We had fun and ate way too much.

Peanut to Leslee: "Mom you could have just said No when I asked for more pie."
Leslee and I looked at each other and laughed. Me to Peanut, "Or you could have just not asked for it." she looked at me like I was speaking Greek. :o)

Thanks for coming by to play Leslee.....we always have fun when you are around.

Uncle Joe's New Do

Not a great picture, but here is Uncle Joe's new do.

I actually like it. I didn't think I would, but it does look nice. I want him to grow a 'soul patch' like Howie Mandel next. :o)

~Friday Dance

Woohoo!! It's Friday! It's Friday!! *dancing around the room wildly*

Hey wait a minute. Why am I excited? I just have to work tomorrow too, awww heck.

I found something neat for the girlies at my house to try. It is a straw with chocolate in it that makes chocolate milk as you sip it through the straw. I forget what they are called. Found them at Walgreens. I will be reporting more later.

In other news: I am sleepy.

In other other news: CarlyJo is still sick but is currently medicated and on the mend. Uncle Joe picked up her homework today so she should be caught up by Monday, unless she waits til Sunday night to do it....and she will unless we sit on her and make her do it. :o)

In other other other news: The Denton Jazz Fest is coming up in a few weeks and I am looking forward to that trip again! Uncle Joe and I go (alone) down to Denton Texas to the Jazz Fest where we sit in lawn chairs and listen to music all day and ocassionally wander about to get some yummy food or look at arts and crafts. I usually take a book and read read read to my hearts content. We will also be visiting with one of UJ's highschool buddies that leaves nearby. That is always fun.

in other other other other news: Cassidy's foot and back are healing nicely and she is on the run again, being careful to watch out for bees and stray hammers.

And now for something completely different: I love getting memes, but it seems that all of them have been circulated. I was laughing to myself today trying to come up with really weird questions, like "When was the last time you picked your nose?" or " Did you ever taste ear wax when you were young?" or "What is the worst thing you have ever done?" I know I am weird and very easily entertained............

In conclusion: I need to get on home and get my lawn mowed. Is that weird....mowing in March? I love mowing the grass, although it is a bit more work now that our yard is ginormous. It will take me a couple of hours to do it now where as in Muskogee it only took me about 30 minutes. :o)

Have a great Friday evening.

Broke Back Hill

We managed to have the tramp in our back yard one full day before someone got hurt. Uncle Joe brought Cassidy into the doctor's office where I work Monday and when the doctor asked her why she was there she said, "I broke my back."

After a thorough exam the doctor concluded after watching her get up and down off the exam table several times that she must have just strained a muscle in her back, told us to give her Motrin and stay off the trampoline for a week.

Top it all off: Uncle Joe is outside making a trellis and a bee got after Cassidy. While she was running away from the bee she stepped on the claw end of the hammer and severely scratched her foot. After a good quick clean up by her new hero, Daddy, we got her all bandaged up with some hot pink coban and she was off and running pretty quick.

Carly is feeling a little under the weather today. I had hoped that we had missed all the sickness that is going around here and I am afraid she will succomb to it. We must get her medicated and resting quick!

Uncle Joe is out in the garden every day getting some good sunshine-therapy. That has helped a boat-load!! He is getting a farmer's tan too.....oh yea, he also shaved his head slicker than a billiard ball, so he is also getting a red head and a red neck. :o)

That is about all my brain can think of at the moment........

G'nite y'all!

The Tramp

No, I am not talking about that girl in High School that stole my boyfriend.

G-mom (UJ's mom) and GrandPat bought the girls a new trampoline, (or JUMPoline as Carly called it when she was little) this weekend.

G-mom called and said she, UJ and the girls had talked about picking it up this weekend so I called Walmart to make sure they were in stock. They were in stock and off I went.......after checking with Papa, my dad, to ask him to help me put it together.

Bought it with no incident. That was the easy part.

The next 3 hours were a blur of metal pieces, springs and netting. We are not stupid people, but it took us a long time to put that thing together! (When all else fails, read instructions) We perservered, mainly due to three little girls coming out of or around the house saying, "Is it ready yet? Is it ready yet?" and we got it, and the netting frame up last night and my cousin, Renita came and helped me get the netting up. She is a bit taller than me and had put one together previously, otherwise I was going to have to call on my SIL Andi to help me tomorrow. :o)

If anyone of you purchase a trampoline, and there is a $50 charge to have it assembled for you, it is TOTALLY worth it. My hands, arms and back are sore today from all that pushing and pulling, straining and groaning. I am chock full of Naproxen today.

We had fun jumping on it all afternoon and it will be great exercise for the girls.

I wonder if Uncle Joe will jump on it too??

iPod vs washing machine

Late Sunday evening, I was putting Carly's laundry from the washing mashine into the dryer so she would have her favorite outfit ready to wear Monday morning. As I pulled out the clothes I came across a set of head phones. "Hmmmmm" I thought. "That sure does look like iPod ear buds. " I kept pulling out clothes and lo and behold......her iPod at the bottom of the washer.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" my mind was racing! "All that money!! Wasted!! Down the drain. I am never buying her another one!"

I broke the news to her the next day. She was very sad. I put it in my pocket so I would remember to put it in my car in the warm sunshine, hoping it would dry out. I inadvertantly kept it in my pocket all day and maybe that was a good thing, because I am one hot mama you know. ;o)

I googled this problem and found out something strange: as far as water encounters for iPods, the "best" one is with a washing mashine. Why?? The spin cycle and clean water.

I plugged the iPod into the computer last night and what do you think happened??

IT POWERED UP!! I was totally shocked and amazed. I am an Apple lover forever.

There was an article in our local news paper that basically said that Apple was the best because their stuff "just works". That is very true. We bought Carly a lesser known mp3 player and it was so stinkin hard to figure out that we just took the blasted thing back and said, "We are too dumb to work this." Apple just works. You plug it in and it works. End of story. We are happy Joes now!

iPod vs Washing mashine WINNER: Apple iPod!!!

PS Do not try this at home. This accidental experiment was performed by fruit (CarlyJo) that didn't fall from tree (Me).

Etc......

I am determined to make a post today. About what I have no idea.

I totally failed the "Spring Forward" last night. I let Cassidy stay up and watch a movie with Uncle Joe while I worked on the computer til 10:30pm. Once I realized what was going to happen the next morning when we were done sprung, I hurried her into the shower to wash off the day's fun. ie: dirt on her piggies, knees, elbows and nose. In the interest of brevity, I jumped in with her and got the job done and got her in bed lickety split.

Well it just wasn't enough sleep for her because she was just too tired to get up for church. I was nice and left her in her wad of blankets, snoozing away, hoping she would get enough rest while I went to church.

Carly went back to Snoozeville too, even though I crawled in bed and tickled her awake.

I didn't even TRY to roust Joe up. He is in much need of mega loads of sleep these days. His daytime garden escapades are tiresome.

Our Sunday School class is so awesome. We have the largest class in our church, averaging over 20 ladies a week. Our pastor's wife is the teacher and she is just so great. She is definitely a "Type A" personality and very vibrant and full of energy, and so in love with Jesus and it shows. She is very challenging and is a wonderful teacher. I look forward to every Sunday morning lesson with her.

The girls and I are at Mom and Dad's right now. They were having a Disney channel craving and I needed to check my emails. Hey what happened yesterday with Blogger and Google?? I couldn't comment on any blog or check my gmail. It was very annoying!

Well there you have it, the sum of my etc..........

Have a great week wherever you are.

Answered prayers and deceptions

Wow what a week!! We have been in prayer for UJ's disability benefits (or lack there of I should say) since the onset of his diagnosis in July 2004. We had a final hearing to determine his eligibility (after being denied 3 times) yesterday in Tulsa. I had been praying and asking everyone I knew to pray too. God had it all under control and proved it by a decision being reached before we even walked into the room. The decision was in our favor and he only had to iron out a few little minor details. We now have to wait (more waiting!) for the back log of applications and we should receive benefits in a few months.

Can I just say ........Whew!!

and THANK YOU LORD!!

This has lifted a huge burden from our family and you could see the relief in Joe's face yesterday as we chowed down on a celebratory Thai Chef lunch then went to Starbux for some latte's (Courtesy of Badoozie's boobah gift card....Thanks Doozie!)

Oh one more thing. Don't go to Garden Ridge looking for seeds or plants of any kind. The name of the store is very deceptive. They only deal in FAKE FLOWERS AND PLANTS. We left empty handed after much anticipation about even going.

OK I am off to Lowes for some REAL plants. :o)

I am feeling rawther snoggy

Here is my newest find. Rimmel Lip Gloss in the shade called Snog. It is so pretty on and smells good and I put it on all day. By the end of the day my lips are nice and smooth and very kissable. *hint: Uncle Joe come check them out!*

Someone tried to trick me on the phone recently. She called and said, "What's your address?" I knew who it was. Leslee. :o) She and her family sent me flowers for my boobah. I also got a nice gobholey surprise in the mail: a starbux cup, starbux gift card and a nice vanilly candle.

We are outta here for some boobah lunch with the girls.........and then to Mom and Dad's for a Dual Boobah Dinner with my family. My baby brother's b-day was yesterday and mine is today so we have always shared our celebration(s). Menu: Coconut shrimp, pasta salad and Chocolate Delight. MMMMMMMMMM

Hey Whatchall Doin??

Hi Bloggers......I have been sooooo busy at work and without a good reliable wireless connection from my neighbors at home, I have not been blogging like I used to.

Let see what has been going on in my life??

Cassi and Uncle Joe are under the weather. They caught the respiratory bug that has been going around like wild-fire here in our county. The kids are dropping like flies at area schools. Both my sweeties came to the doctor last week and got some medicine and are on the mend. It has been my observation that this "flu bug" is very hard to shake and a very long bounce back to normal time.

Carly, my other sweetie, has completed her science project. (Thank God!) She and a partner started and finished it Saturday. Her project was putting home-made carpet cleaner head-to-head with commercial products. We followed the manufacturers instructions and the home-made cleaner beat the commercial product in cleaning a mustard stain!!
Here is the recipe:
1 T ammonia
1 T Ivory dish washing liquid
1 quart hot water
squirt on stain and scrub with a brush. soak up solution with an absorbent towel.

I am reading a book called "A Three Dog Life" by Abigail Thomas. It is a memoir of her thoughts after her husband was injured in a car/pedestrian accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury. Her writing is very thoughtful and thought provoking. It is very comfortable to read and she is very observant and quiet.

I am looking forward to my Netflix delivery of The Nun Story starring Audrey Hepburn.

There are tree surgeons all over our area STILL cleaning up tree debris. I heard that they are about 1/4 of the way done. There are piles of limbs out by curbs waiting for FEMA to pick up. I wonder what they will do with all the wood chips?

We have found a great church in Fort Gibson. They just voted the interim preacher to be full time and we are very happy about that. He and his family are pretty awesome. His wife is my SS teacher and I am really enjoying her class, and I look forward to every service to hear Gods word. I was just starving for it and I am really getting fed. God is so good.


That is about all that is going on in my life.....how about yours??

Valentine Shmalentine

Valentine's day sucks when your honey is sicker than a dog.

That's all I have to say about that.

Serving my country

Today I went on a catering job with my dad and some friends from Charlie's Chicken to serve breakfast to our soldiers training at Camp Gruber in Braggs OK. I was in charge of sausage patties. One per soldier...strict orders. No favoritism and no seconds til everyone has eaten.

It wasn't a hard job, just an early job. We had to be at Charlie's to load up at 4am and leave Fort Gibson at 4:30am. We arrived and got set up and started serving the soldiers about 530am. We will be serving supper to night and breakfast again tomorrow before they head home.

They came in with sleepy eyes and bed head. I was cheerful and greeted each of the men with a nice "Good morning". After a few went by, my dad leaned over and said, "Quit being so cheerful....some of the men don't like that." I just smiled and kept doing it. :o)

There were few women that came through....only 5 if I counted right. I have always admired women in the service. It is not for me, but I am glad it is the calling of some.

I observed alot.....the soldiers now have different cammo print than the green I have been used to. They all still have the military hair cut even though they are National Guard and do not serve 24-7. most of them ate hot sauce (Louisiana Hot Sauce , not salsa) on their eggs. Just because they are eating a meal does not mean they can let their guard down. They still must maintain their focus.

Dad said during the summer months when they train for Air Assault School you are instructed not to address or talk to the soldiers. They are herded in and they have to gobble their food and get out. They are still under training mode even during meals. The Instructors are watching them like hawks the entire time.

This is something fun to do this weekend since I am not on call to do drugscreens. It is a way to make a buck or two and give something back to the soldiers who are serving us. I will give them "service with a smile" no matter if they want it or not. :o)

*Yawn* That early wake up call is catching up with me.........

Souper Bowl

I WAS going to watch the balance of the Souper Bowl after church on the 20 ft screen but was informed rather rudely that it was for "youth only MOOOOOMMMMM!" (I am not that bad am I??)

Cassidy and I came home to a quiet house as Uncle Joe went to Peggs to watch the game with some friends. I couldn't go for two reasons: I am on call for drugscreens and Cassi had a dinner date with her bestest bud, Jasmine at McDonald's. (This dinner date AFTER her parents mentioned Cassi coming over to their house then had to change their plans....tears ensued from both little girls)

My favorite Souper Bowl is Tomatoe Bisque from Harmony House in Muskogee.

so you say it's your birthday??

Happy Birthday to my favorite Gobhole Girl

Mullet Contest

I have the French version called "moolay" :o)

Check out Emma's contest

Here We Go Again

Drat those power surges!! (I know I know, I should be grateful we HAD power.) Our computer was plugged into a power surge protector, but it must have been off duty or something because the computer is dead. D-E-A-D. I will be taking it to the computer hospital to see if there is anything that can be done. Maybe it is just the power cord. Yea right.

Sooooooo if the Joe's are scarce, please forgive. I have access to the internet at work, but you know how that is. I don't want to get busted blogging so I only do it after hours. :o)

In other news: there is another winter weather storm on it's way. Muskogee County is at the edge of the storm. Usually that is a good thing, but "on the edge" of a winter storm means not nice powdery snow, but sleet. Oh boy. Just what we needed. More ice. Yippee!

Muskogee has already cancelled school for Monday and Tuesday. The debris from all the falling trees would make it difficult and downright dangerous for the school buses. Fort Gibson is holding out that they can manage it. I actually hope they can. The girls are stir crazy!! Not to mention all the people they call on the phone cause they are bored! haha They don't know what to do at home without cable or the internet. Play a game! Color! Draw! Play with your toys! Read a book! Write a story! Do some laundry! Do some dishes! Oh but nooooooo!!! They want to go to Nana's or G-moms. I don't blame them. It IS more fun at your grandparent's house. :o) And they have good grandma food!

I am trying to get a jump on the day's weather so I am at work blogging when I should be doing payroll.

Go Ahead Make My Day

Guess who called me and just made my day??

Leslee!

She called me at work trying to trick me. It didn't work because I am freaky weird with voices and usually (USUALLY JOE!) can't be fooled.

We had a nice chat. She called to check on us down here in Ice Land. There is more "winter weather" headed our way....and she will be getting some of it too.

Hey who turned out the lights?

Northeastern Oklahoma is in the middle of a horrible ice storm right now. Much of Muskogee, where I work is out of power including our ISP, so no surfing the internet for the Joes. We live in Fort Gibson, and thank God, our power never went out. It flickered a bit, but never went down. Uncle Joe's family was all without power, but not with out heat. ANP's hubby bought them a big ole mammajamma generator and they are fired up and doing well other than a case of Cabin Fever I think. G-mom and GrandPat retreated to a bedroom and used the gas stove for heat, and Papa and Granny are living in their living room around their gas heater. Uncle Joe checked on everyone today , Papa was happy as a lark, making the best of a chilly situation! :o) Everyone else should have power restored shortly.......but then I guess "shortly" is all relative.

The loss of trees is horrible!! There are limbs everywhere you look. I hate to see those wonderful trees just fall down, but with all that weight on them, they just couldn't withstand it.

Yesterday my dad and I went on a drive up on Garrison Hill in Fort Gibson. As we were coming back down the sun was setting and as far as we could see was beautiful sparkley glass trees. All we could see was the tops of them and they were shining like diamonds. Hard to believe that beauty was so damaging.

We have had lots of time to just lay around this weekend and it was abso-loootly wonderful! I got to read my book and we watched football and movies all day. It was great! The kids are out an extra day of school because of all the damage and I haven't heard about tomorrow yet.

Anywhoooooo.....stay warm!

What I am doing right now......

The Icing on theTrees

Our state is bracing for an ice storm this weekend. People are really scrambling about at all the grocery stores stocking up on food as if we would be stranded for weeks. When I went to Harp's earlier today there was no: bread, eggs, hamburger meat, or bananas. So, apparenlty people are having banana breadpudding with meatballs all over Fort Gibson.

I am very grateful for our current house right now. It has no power lines to freeze and break, and no large trees that will blow over and hurt us or the houses or power lines. Our Muskogee house had power lines near some large trees and I always worried about them falling or freezing. Especially after one HUGE oak tree blew over during a thunderstorm.

Thank you all for your well wishes last week when I felt bad. I am on the mend and feeling much better. I work at the front desk of a medical clinic though and have patients hacking and coughing on me all day. I asked Santa for a plexiglass window for Christmas but didn't get it.

Here is something else I don't get: patients that call and say, "Is there something going around?" DUH!! I always ask very politely what kind of symptoms they are having and agree , "Yes there has been some of that lately. Would you like to make an appointment?"

Bargain Hunter of the Day: Nana, My Mom. Found Rockport tennies for Uncle Joe at $17.oo!! These are $90 shoes!! WOOHOO!!

I am SO looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow. I may even take a Tylenol PM to make me really sleepy ...........

I have a good book to read tomorrow and lots of movies to keep the girls busy. I plan on cuddling up and having a pajama day.

G-nite!

By Dose Is Stobbed Up

By dose is very stobbed up add I don't feel very good. Uncle Joe has offered to bake be sub chicked soub add I thick I will led hib.

I ab goig to bed dow.

*sniff*

ACHOO!

Long Distance Relationships

Tuesday night, during "pillow talk" Joe was complaining about all the morning traffic past his side of the bed. (hey-three girls getting ready generates a lot of traffic!!)

I suggested moving to my side of the bed, farthest away from the walk-way. here is his response (paraphrased)

"What? Moving to your side of the bed is like moving to the East Coast after living on the West Coast all your life!"

Wow.....and I thought it was just a big ole bed. Little did I know it is the whole nation!

Luckily, flights to the Midwest were cheap that night.

In other news:

Last night as CassiJo was playing waitress with Uncle Joe she announced the Special was mashed potatoes and chicken ribs. I hope it wasn't too hard for him to eat the meat off those little bitty bones. :o)

In other other news:

CarlyJo is anly about 3 inches shorter than me. She is growing so tall and pretty!

and so begins 2007

i began the new year at church with carly and a bunch of her friends. they had a "lock-in" and had to be picked up at 12:01am. cassi jo was bound and determined to stay up so she could go with me to pick carly up. she is fascinated by "the middle of the night".

we arrived just in time to ring in the new year with a glass of grape juice. we were in our jammies and decided that might embarrass carly a tad so we went to the car while they cleaned up. i think they had a good time...carly came out smiling from ear to ear. i am sure it helped that jake was there to make her smile too. ;o)

cassidy and i were up fairly early this morning and decided to go to walmart to get our grocery shopping done. our cupboards were very bare and now they are chock full of goodies. the freezer is over flowing and fruits abound in the fruit bowl. mmmmmmm!! our healthy eating has begun. now if we can just get moving!!

right now i am paying for that late night/early rise. my eyes are very heavy and i know if i stop i will doze off. i must hold out a few more hours.

right now we are off to dazzler's house to deliver a cake. she has 4 extra children at her house and has put out a distress call for some travelling cuisine. well UJ calls me the Queen of Travelling Cuisine so this was just up my alley don't you know? Yellow butter recipe cake with chocolate icing is what UJ chose for them. it is whipped up and cooling as i type. mmmmmmchocolate!!

Resolution Revolution

It is that time of year when we in the Joe house like to reveal our plans for the coming year. I had big plans for 2006 and crossed a few off my list. This year my list will be shorter and hopefully a little more attainable. :o)

Eat healthy (this will of course still include chocolate, coffee and diet drinks)
Get moving (notice I didn't say E-X-E-R-C-I-S-E? moving can be in the form of dancing, walking, cleaning, shopping etc)
Find a hobby
Have a family supper 4 nights a week (cereal counts too)
Date night at least once a month (Joe you have to be good and nice to me though)
Spend money wisely (Hey wait when you don' t have it don't you usually spend wisely?)
If something breaks I will fix it or call someone who can.
Delegate chores
Obliterate snores (it just rhymed)
Hug my daughters every day
Pray every day

I have no plans to be up at midnight tonight. It will be among a handful of times I won't see the New Year in. This will be our first New Years Eve in the new house. I wonder if the neighbors here are as rowdy as the ones in Muskogee?? Muskogee folk set off fireworks. These Fort Gibson folk may get out their guns for all we know. All we have is a pellet gun and that won't make much noise.

I need some coffee now.

December 24th Birthdays Cubed

I have three people in my family who have a birthday on December 24th: My Aunt Joyce, my brother Tom and my brother-in-law Ronnie all have a birthday today.

As long as I can remember up until about 10 years ago Aunt Joyce had a birthday cake for her and my brother. They always had their picture made together. Neither of them particularly enjoy having their picture taken but endured the torture on a yearly basis. One of my favorites is when Tom is about 8 years old and he is saying something and Joyce is looking at him and laughing.

The way our family does it so Joyce and Tom really have a birthday celebration is we all (18) go out for lunch at Western Sizzlin and bring gifts for their birthdays. We all sit together and our waitress gets a very good tip. :o)

We had birthday cobbler for Ron at g-mom's house last night after our traditional grilled cheez sandwich and tomatoe soup dinner. ANP what do y'all like to do for Ron?

What a special gift to have a baby on this day. Looking down at the face of your child, just as Mary looked into the face of Jesus.





Happy Birthday Tom, Joyce and Ron!

Coolest Gifts Ever

Oh I can't wait for Christmas morning. I got Joe two of the coolest gifts ever! He will like them so much he may throw all the gift wrap aside and kiss me right on the lips in front of the girls. (EWWW MOM AND DAD ARE K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!)

Let's hope so anyway.........

if you want to know what they are, email me and I will send you a picture. One is so cool I will score MAJOR points for even FINDING it, much less getting it here for Christmas.

.......just three more days. The anticipation is killing me. ;o)

It will just be marvelous

12-27-06 Due to technical difficulties beyond my control (a terrible night's sleep and a volcano in his gut) Joe was not quite up to rolling around in the wrapping paper, but did smile at the gifts: The Official Batman Handbook and a Marvel Edition Monopoly game and some Marvel Matchbox cars....with the coveted Captain America car.)

4:02

What does that mean you ask??

4:02am is the exact time I have been waking up for the last week. I have no idea why. Every day when I wake up and the clock says 4:02 I am amazed. Sometimes I can go back to sleep and sometimes I get up and do something for a while until I get sleepy again. Sometimes I pray for who ever pops in my mind first....sometimes it is Karina and the babies. I don't know who it will be tomorrow. Maybe one of the doctors at work, Dr. Elgin....his little mother died today.

If you have something you would like for me to talk to The Big Guy about tomorrow, say about 4:02 am, just leave me a comment and I will talk to Him about it.

Really it is kinda nice. No one to talk to except God and no distractions. Is He showing me how to find the time to talk to Him?

Updated photo

I updated this post with a picture.....please take a look at my pretty Birthday Girl. :o)

Thanking God for a small thing

Thank you God for your provision in this "small" thing that makes a big difference in my life:

Recently my employer updated our Business Office computers at work, equipping us with internet at all computers, not just one in the back of the office. As you know, I work at the front desk and get to greet all our patients coming in our office. This is not a hard job, but the stress is a little high especially when we are busy.

Anyway, I have been checking the website for my favorite Christian radio station: KXOJ and until today, they have not had the "listen" button. Today, when I logged on, there it was!! I can now listen to uplifting Christian music at my desk. This music encourages me and keeps me happy, so much better than secular music.

When I feel happy inside, I will be a more effective employee and be able to greet all our patients with a smile ;o)

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Here is a tidbit I heard on this great radio station today:

God is NOT looking for a steeple, he is looking for a people.

~

He is looking for his peeps

I want to be God's Peep! Do you??

Boys and Bears

Last year Carly's best friend was a Build a Bear, now it is a boy.

I just couldn't wait!

I ordered this ornament for Joe (despite what the camera date stamp says) for his stockingthis year. I just couldn't wait to give it to him. Do you recognize it?? It is our very own Jenn's creation nicely put on a ceramic ornament at www.cafepress.com
















Isn't it just adorable

Happy Boobah Cassidy

Seven years ago today Cassidy Faith Joe was born into our family. She came into the world fast and furiously....just like she lives her life.

For seven years old she sure knows a lot and is not shy about telling you what she knows. Lord only knows if she is right or wrong sometimes.

She sings from the time she wakes up til she falls asleep at night or when our ears get tired, which ever comes first.

She is not your average girl either. She loves to play with Matchbox cars. She and Carly construct large mats with roads, shops and houses. Her cars talk to each other and have little car-families. She only likes real-life cars...no race cars. I think her favorite is a Mini Cooper or a VW Bug with no lid. (Cassi-speak for a convertible)

She wants to be a big sister or at least the Boss of her big sister Carly. :o)

This morning she told me "Mom I am never gonna get a job. I am gonna just stay home for ever. " I asked how she would do that. She has it all figured out. "I will just let my Honey go to work."

Cassidy Faith Joe, we are blessed to have you for our little sister and our baby daughter.

Happy Birthday

Norwegian Treats

We recently received a pleasant surprise in the mail.....a package from Norway! Nerdine sent us a bunch of stuff about Norway and a very newsy informative letter.

We got a book about Norway and the Vikings, several post cards, one of her work, and some Norwegian chocolates. We have not eaten them yet......not for lack of trying on the girls' part though. There were also two Viking bead necklaces. That is right up our alley. We love to make beaded jewelry here in the Home of the Joes. There was also a treat for me: a cd of Norwegian music made by Nerdine.

I have a picture of all the loot, but don't have it downloaded. We are still having computer woes....nothing horrible, just annoying....so stay tuned for pix.

Last night Cassidy was trying to tell PrayerfulMom about the package and she said," We got a package from Nerdino, our friend from the blogs. She is from (MOM WHERE IS SHE FROM?!) Norway. It is very far away."

Carly piped up and we had the thought at the same time. In "A Cinderella Story" one of the characters says Norwegian salmon is from Norwegia, so of course we had to laugh and say that too.....

************************************

Thanks Nerdino!!

Weird Schmeird Etc

Leslee is so bossy. She wants me to post weird things about myself. Well first off, I am not weird. Y'all are. I could post a whole bunch more weird things about you than I could about normal little ole me, but here goes:

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the '6 weird things about you.' People who get tagged need to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1. I recently started listening to classic rock on STAR 103 . When I started to like it i thought to myself, "I am finally grown up." In my mind, only older adults liked that station.....and now that I am about to turn 38, I finally feel like an adult. (I bet Joe is so relieved.)

2. I peel the top off of pizza and eat it first, then the crust.

3. I sleep with ear plugs.

4. I find a scent I like and wear it all the time until I get tired of it, or find something I like better. Currently I am still loving warm vanilla sugar but would also like to try some Pink Sugar from here. If Joe found something he liked I would wear that too, but his nose gets itchy when it smells perfume. (I will also add here that I love a good smelling man!)

5. I blush VERY easily. My face always gives away my emotions, no matter how hard I try to hide them.

6. I have only been drinking coffee for one year. (and I love it!....another sign I am grown up.)

Bonus weirdness:
7. I have freckles between my toes.

8. I can tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue.

9. I am pretty smart and intuitive about certain things (don't tell Joe) It just gets lost in this dingy shoulda-been-a blonde head though.

10. I hate those mail-in cards in magazines and rip them all out when i read the magazine.

Tagging: BandGirl, Carly-Fries, Ted, ANP, and Nerdine
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Today I will go to the annual Sister's Christmas Lunch with my mother, her sisters (7 total) and all my girl cousins. We will eat and have a gift exchange at Aunt Ruth's . It might get nasty. They like to play Dirty Santa and I don't. I think I posted about that last year. I love to see everyone and visit and laugh at how old they have gotten! haha

My gift is pretty cute: a snowman mug with a matching stirring spoon, some "dash/smidgen/pinch" measuring spoons, hot chocolate, mini flavored coffees and creamer.....all things I love. :o) Is it wrong to take things you would like? I usually do, and have even ended up with my own gift (and promptly returned it for the cash)

Here are all my aunts: Betty, Ruth, Iva, Mary, Thelma & Velma (my mom) and Sandra

Did I tell you that Carly won the MRMC "Holiday" card contest? Her design will be featured on the card sent out by my employer. She won a $25 gift card from Walmart. As soon as I receive our copies, I will post a photo.

I have more to post but will save something for later........

Merry Christmas

Snow Ice Cream

I used to love it when Mom would make snow ice cream when we were little......here is a good recipe:

1 cup Half & Half
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
dash of salt
5 cups of fresh, clean snow

I think you could also use liquid vanilla coffee creamer....what do you think?

We only got a few inches of snow last night. Not near as much as the rest of our state. There were blizzard conditions near the OK/KS border. We have been lucky, no power outages in our town. That is what is the worst I think.

I went outside this morning and only had to sweep off my car a bit and break a little bit of ice accumulation from yesterday, otherwise it wasn't bad. I left in plenty of time and only drove 30mph the whole way.

Everyone in the clinic made it but one person and there have only been 5 patients so far. We will have to find a bunch of busy work for everyone. I brought movies just in case! haha

Snuggle up with a good book or your honey and stay warm today!