fun!

Jen is off enjoying a little r&r with her Grandma in Austin so it was just 4 of us this weekend. I say Jen was enjoying her r&r.....well, she did manage to call us about, oh, say, 10 times a day. This child is such the homebody! I have no idea how she will manage to leave here for college next year. I have a sneaky suspicion that she will be attending a college closer to home.

With an open day and only the younger boys with us, we went out prowling in search of some fun yesterday. Several ideas were tossed around and eventually we drove by the theater. Have no interest in Harry Potter. The Simpsons? Jeff can now quote my 'they make my skin crawl' speech. Needless to say, I can't stand it. There was just nothing I wanted to see except one show I'd been wanting to watch, Live Free, Die Hard. All I can say is, if you like on-the-edge-of-your-seat, all out action, this is the movie for you! I was left wondering how a body can survive so much, realistically speaking, but great movie.

I ended up having to compromise on the mouse situation. James insists no sticky trap. No spring trap. Nothing mean or inhumane. (Here kitty, kitty, kitty.....) So I found a little plastic, self-closing trap that I managed to talk him into. If another is ever caught in there, I will be letting *him discard of it, however. He can drive to Timbuktu to find a suitable home for the critter.

I'm thinking I need to start a taekwondo themed scrapbook. Therefore, I am in need of some tkd graphics, stickers, cutouts, whatever. I've had alot of difficulty finding any anywhere. I need some good scrapbooking sites to search and to bookmark. I welcome linkies! :)

look, mom! a contest!

5 Minutes for Mom is giving away this cool tv from Best Buy!

eek!

"It's raining. It's pouring. The old man... "

Anyway, we have dark clouds and drenching rain so I shouldn't be surprised. You see, all the little creatures want to get out of the rain, too!

I went into the garage to check on the laundry and was just 'la la la' doing my own thing when I heard a noise. "Pluup!" Huh? I thought. What could that be? It sounded like water dripping into a bucket of water. Then I heard it again. "Pluup!" After hearing it several more times I decided I needed to investigate. search. search. search... Until I looked into a small plastic container and SCREAMED! There was maybe an inch of water in there and a mouse! Yikes! He about gave me a heart attack!

The problem next was what to do with it. I couldn't decide what to do. I knew if Jen was home she'd find a place out in a field somewhere and release it. My thoughts tend to me more like kill it so it doesn't come back to *my house. I called James. He said to release it outside. ugh My thoughts were more like, toss it in the toilet and flush it away. What to do? I couldn't decide. I knew if I were to tell James and Jen that I killed it I would have to listen to their opinions on how mean I am.

I spent some time thinking it over.

I still couldn't decide.

Hmmm....

What to do?






Finally, I took it far, far away so I would never see it again and let it free.

So much for my dilemma for the day...
God Bless that poor little mouse and my he never frighten another unsuspecting housewife!

and the official winner of the ddos givaway is...

I've had tons of fun this week! Ok, so we put numbers in a box and my dear, darling son just pulled out a number and it is...it is...it is...

MommaBlogger over at Homemakers Guide to the Galaxy!!! I don't have an email address so drop me an email and we'll get all the particulars sorted out. :)

givaway

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER Bloggy Givaway <---- Check it out! A cool idea! I just have to join in on the fun and what better than my mostest, favoritist thing in the whole world - some good 'ol cajun food! So, my givaway is going to be this.........

Shipping will be included so, sorry, but can only ship to Continental US. Contest is open to everyone, bloggers and non-bloggers alike. Simply post a comment to this posting to be entered. Comments will be closed about noon on Friday, July 27th. Winner will be drawn then and contacted thru email. Please be sure to leave an email address. After you do that, check out DOG DAYS OF SUMMER Bloggy Givaway for many, many more fun givaways!

And find some free work at home resources over at Casual Friday Everyday.

Also check out 5 Minutes for Mom to win free Dairy-Free products from Horizon Organic!

And for one last blingy givaway, check out Desperately Seeking Sanity.

ta-da!!!

BRAND NEW BROWN BELTS!!!

Alot of hard work has gone into those brown belts. I'm so proud of my boys.

another puppy

The kids found yet another puppy dumped at our house. Why, oh, why do people keep doing this???

She is a sweety. The kids are calling her Destiny. However, we must find her a home. She can't stay here. No matter how many times they say please. No matter how many times they bat their eyes. No matter how many times... Well, you get the picture. The question is how long can I maintain that stance.

EDITED: Well, James has fallen in love with her. I have also found out that she wasn't dumped afterall. Someone *wanted* me to think she was dumped as an excuse to bring her home.

PS: She looks sooo much like our dear doggie that we brought back stateside. wah

busy testing day

'Tis was a busy, exciting, but exhausting day! I spent a good part of the day getting those white uniforms a beautiful white followed by a crisp starching. Tedious work but it's worth it for them to look their best.

Jared seemed to be having an off day. The testing director made his whole group stop in the middle of sparring to talk to them about kicking it up a notch. They were all, as a group, just kinda lackadaisical. They finally did kick it up to show what they really can do but... Otherwise, they both did great, as usual.

So, a few pics...

They have only 2 minutes to all their 10 pieces of gear on. It's a concentrated rush to beat the clock.

Jeff (right) showing his sparring skills

Jared (center) showing off his sparring skills

group picture after testing before final dismissal

summer fun

Jeff and the last kitty rescue. This poor kitty was dumped in a park . When we found her she was nothing but skin stretched over bone. She was so fragile I was scared to handle her at all for fear of breaking a bone. Now days she nibbles constantly, scared that she may not have food tomorrow. It's so sad.Otherwise, everyone is busy trying to stay cool and have fun at the same time. What better way than water!!!

Jen has forbidden me from showing any pictures of her swimming. She hates *all* the pictures I have of her, especially this one....

WILD WOMAN

And my final thought for the day.........

WIDE LOAD

pic courtesy of Jen

belt testing

It's that time again! We missed last testing so both Jared and Jeff will be testing for sr blue this go-round. They are aaaaalmost to red then black! Woohoo!

I do have a few pictures from the last time they tested.

Brown belt pictures coming soon!

hair

Jen. This poor child inherited the hair frizzies from James' family. She has learned to deal with it for the most part but recently......yikes!

I can only assume it is the chlorine in the pool that's causing the problem. She does shampoo her hair every time she swims but she is still getting this finger-in-the-socket effect. Her hair is seriously frizzed! So! I am looking for ideas to control this craziness. We've tried anti-frizzies shampoos with mediocre results. She has been using a ceramic iron thing to straighten it but I'm hoping for something less time consuming and the results are again mediocre. We have talked about having a perm done but then again, with the chlorine all summer that may not be a good idea. So. Is there a solution to this problem or will she just have to learn to live with it as long as she will be getting into the pool on a regular basis? If you have an idea, Please, Please, Please share it!!! We have an appointment on the 26th to have her senior portraits done. She needs to look her best by then so we need some serious help fast!

Pictures. I have had the intentions of posting some pics but some little monster must have ate my usb cord which prevents me from downloading any pictures from my camara. I've ordered a replacement that should be here an a few days so I will try to add some new pictures here this weekend if I get the chance.

woohoo!!!

We got to see the fireworks last night! I was afraid they would be canceled due to rain but it was just cool and breezy but dry. We did get there an hour early, not knowing exactly what time it started. We just found a parking lot but down the street from where we thought they'd be. But luck was shining on us. We were parked about 200 yards from where they were set up at! I had to lay back in the bed of the truck to see but wow! It made up for the burned ribs and sausages. We ended up making a trip to Fuddruckers to get some burgers.

Anyway, I am finding that as I get older and my kids get older I tend to get easily annoyed at other people's kids. There was a group of kids parked near us that SCREAMED every blasted time a firework went off. I was ready to go tell some grownups to keep their kids in line. They were not little kids and should know better. The parents should know better, too, imho.


Soooo, this morning I can smell someone smoking in my house. I'm very sensitive to smoke and for some reason it also goes *directly* to my room thru the a/c vents. Now, I do not allow *any kind of smoking in my house. None. Zip. Nada. I don't give a care *who it is. It could be the president of the US and I still would not allow smoking in my house. So when I smell someone smoking in my house I tend to go a bit ballistic. I busted thru that bedroom door very loudly making my point known. And it just gripes me. This *gurl* is pregnant with my grandbaby and she is smoking. I think that tells me just what kind of mom she will be. It's all about *her*. What's best for that baby is not what is important to her. Grrrrr Sometimes I wish I could just vanish from all this c- um, garbage. I don't need this stress.

Let Freedom Ring!!!

...............

..Happy 4th Of July..

...............

rain and burned ribs but the Monk marathon and video games save the day!!!

I hope everyone is having great 4th celebrations.

eagle nest

An eagle nest was found in the area months and months ago and became quite the buzz around here. It was common to have cars lined up to watch the eagle nest. I do know they hatched at least one eaglet but not how successful they were.

Anyway, one day last week people were spotted razing down the wooded area where the nest is! They did call the game warden who arrested the men. I don't know if the nest was destroyed. I hope not. I'd love to see this pair nest here again. It is too sad to think that the nest may be gone. :(


Now, I do have a couple of dogs that need to go. They attacked the poor goat a couple of days ago. They were biting and yanking/tearing his precious gems. Poor Freddie. His screams were horrible to hear.

We aren't planning too much exciting for the 4th........grilled burgers, ribs, sausage, and chicken and just us here at home. James wants to do fireworks. I, myself, get no thrill out of spending money just to make noise and smoke. I prefer to go watch a nice city display somewhere. My all-time favorite fireworks display is in Houston. It was awesome! But then I can't think about firework displays without remembering the July 4th we spent in Korea. Other GI's stopped by the house for some mixed drinks and *they shared some with poor Missy. She was drunker 'n a skunk. Then we walked on down to post for a uso sponsored concert and fireworks. Those were the days before parenthood. :)

So, with more torrential rain expected tomorrow, who knows how successful our celebrations will be. We may just be cooking those 'burgers and ribs inside this year...