Prom 2014

Aaah my daughter is certainly growing up.

We took pictures in the same locations as last year. 

I think this is my favorite picture of her. 

She likes this one better though.

Isn't the dress incredible?

That color was phenomenal on her and the back - WOW!

This is the group of friends she went with this year. 

They all had such gorgeous dresses. 

 A Charlies Angels moment. 

Up on the bridge.

This picture led to a 

Titanic moment lol

 The gals sure had fun posing and goofing around. 

I absolutely LOVE this picture!

That look on her face is all Chyann and to me it says she's got the world by the tail.

Aren't they all just amazingly beautiful?!?!

They had a great time at prom and the after party at a local roller rink. 

She only skated for a few minutes - was too worried about falling and breaking her leg, which is a legitimate concern. They played all sorts of games and visited till 6a this morning. 

She won a $25 gas card which she'll definitely need.

April was a fast month.

Colton only as three more weeks of college left. 

Next weekend he'll start bringing home some of his stuff. 

If he stays on track he'll graduate from college the same day Chyann graduates from high school. 

Wouldn't that be a hoot? and incredibly crazy/busy of course.

later

Poor Shasta

With the weather being so nice recently (except for that day last week that we got almost 2inches of rain) the dogs spend most of their day outside doing what dogs do - barking, chasing cats and apparently getting bit by something.

After work we left for a few hours and Shasta snuck in when when we came home - I didn't even see her. While I was unpacking the groceries I heard her hacking, looked around a see that she was on my chair at the kitchen table. I went over to get her off because I've got a new chair pad and didn't want her hacking up whatever she's trying to get up on it. 

Only to see that her poor face/head/neck are super swollen!

She wasn't hacking something up, but trying to breathe and having a hard time.

I scooped her up and had Caden hold her while I got the benadryl out. Course I only had tablets and was worried she wouldn't be able to swallow the pill, but somehow we managed to get it down her. 

Her breathing got a little bit more labored before finally showing signs of improvement - thankfully.

I've never seen a dog so swollen. 

Her ear flaps and inside her ears were even grossly puffy and her eyes almost completely shut. 

It took about a day and a half for all the swelling to go down.

We never figured out what happened to her either, but I have seen hornets and spiders while cleaning out my flower beds so it could have been anything I guess. 

We're just glad she is better. 

All week long I looked forward to sleeping in today, but was up at 5a instead.

Tonight is prom!

Stay tuned for pictures :)

Sunday AM coffee

It's Easter. 

The eggs have been gathered and candy is being consumed.

Earlier in the week Caden had his first baseball practice and hit a home run right away.
Course I went to zoom in and hit the off button so you'll have to take my word for this hit being a homer.

After practice Caden felt pretty good compared to how he felt before starting PT. 

Apparently the key is continuing to do the exercises and stretches - everyday; rain, shit, shine or snow.
Sounds like the boys are going to have a busy season.
Their first game is in two weeks and they are playing through the end of July this season.
Even quite a few double headers.
Can't wait!


It's weirdly humid and warm out this morning.
We had some rain overnight so I guess that explains the humidity.

later aligator

Spotlight night

The school has been putting on a talent show for the last four years to raise money for the music programs - band and choir. 

This year Caden and one of his friends volunteered to run the spotlights. 

He keeled on that chair and rested the light on his shoulder to be able to follow the performers with the light up on the stage. Apparently that light is super heavy and gets quite hot.

He did a great job! 

The lovely Chyann preformed with the Jazz Band.

She totally rocked the drum set playing her song!

I LOVED IT! 

Got a video of her playing, but since she was tucked away in the very back of the band you can really only see her drum sticks pounding and a glimpse of her hair flying occasionally. 

At the end of the program they auctioned off some goodies that had been donated. 

The night was quite a success. 

Our school has a lot of talented kids and they've got some serious confidence to get up there and preform in front of everyone.  

Chyann and one of her buddies looking cool while the auction was going on. 

That shirt she is wearing?

Was like an 80 dollar shirt at some expensive place in the mall, on sale for 5.80 - hell of a deal right? Well it's one of those hand wash and dry laying flat pain in the buns type of shirt. 

Guess what?

She thew it in the laundry without thinking apparently and I washed AND dried that sucker.

Whoopsie.

It may have shrank a bit, but doesn't look bad at all lol 

It's supposed to be beautiful here this weekend - upper 60's but freaking windy.

That's ok as long as it doesn't snow, I'm good. 

Have a great day :) 

Sunday AM coffee

What a difference a week makes.

Chyann took care of our neighbors animals last weekend while they were out of town and would rather ride a horse than drive a car/snow machine to do it.

 Picture of her and Jenny heading out. 

We really had a LOT of snow. 

Picture taken this morning, a week later. 

The pool ice is melting funny. Solid around the edges and a huge crater in the center. 

Hope that doesn't mean something funky is going on, like I don't know a leak in the bottom or some shit. 

I've decided to only plant the little garden again this year. 

Think the Hubby is planning on loading the long garden up with manure, tilling it and then tarping it for another season. Then next year trying potato's again. We'll see tho. 

Lots of outside work to be done. 

Poop to be scooped is first and foremost on the kids' list for today - course they are not thrilled with this plan, but that's ok.  

  My flower beds and the little garden also need to be cleaned up  - I didn't take care of those chores last fall because of my surgery so as soon as it dries up a bit more those are my first priorities. 

Here's to a great week ahead :)

tip toeing

through my house this morning was difficult because of the young bodies sprawled at awkward angles throughout the living room. So I decided NOT to try and be quiet. Currently the only kids who woke up were the ones that got picked up early. The rest of them continue to slumber on I as bang around the kitchen doing dishes, cooking and typing.

I am a morning person and have my best energy early in the day. It boggles my mind when folks stay up till the wee hours doing whatever they do - watching tv, surfing the internet or whatever and then need/wanting to sleep till noon.  Not to mention that it actually pisses me off on occasion. Sure I will stay up late sometimes too, but I am always up within an hour or two of my normal weekday wake up time. It's called good sleep hygiene and if more folks within my home actually practiced this I'm sure they'd sleep better at night throughout the week and feel better too. Ok, done with preaching about sleep. I do it all the time and unfortunately no one listens.

It's raining cats and dogs here today. A little windy too, but it's supposed to clear up later this afternoon. I can already see the buds on the trees swelling and the maples have that pretty new red growth. A few more weeks and we'll be seeing some leaves.


I'm off to make some lunch or freaking breakfast for those who are just dragging their buns up.
later

Friday night

here we are at the weeks end.

Cleaning, laundry, and cooking are done for the day.

It's a red wine type of night.

I've got five girls in the hot tub.

Two boys playing video games.

and here I sit.

Almost all the snow we got last Friday plus the 70 inches we officially received over the winter are almost gone.
Did you get that? 70 freaking inches of snow. Incredible right? and most of it has melted in the space of seven days. Another incredible feat I wouldn't have thought possible, but whatever I'll take it. Spring is really here. The mud has arrived.

I've got nothing. Just rambling thoughts.

Apparently my family has a propensity for cancer; lung cancer specifically. Yes, both my maternal Grandparents died from it and currently three of their eight children have succumbed. Two of them within the last 18 months. My Mother's brother was diagnosed this week with stage 4 cancer of the lung, liver, lymph and bone. He was in OK earlier in March for my Aunts funeral (she also died of lung cancer) and he seemed fine. Even walked the back 40 with Gerry, never even seeming to be out of breath or out of shape.

It scares the shit out of me.

Not so much for me, but for my Mother. Yes she quit smoking over 10 years ago, but the stress of loosing her siblings is extremely hard on her. So damn it Mother take care of yourself. I can't imagine a world with you not in it.

I'm thinking about my sad son. He and the girlfriend have broke up. No idea why, but he is sad and of course never gonna love again. Not much I can do there. Except worry about him.

sigh.

I'm thinking about entering in a few 5K's this spring/summer. Thinking about it yet, but feeling much stronger than I did when Krissy and I did it year before last and I'm wanting/needing something to accomplish.

I'm thinking about whacking off all my hair again.

Baseball starts next week for Caden. The PT seems to be helping him. Less pain, less advil, less ice packs and heating pads. All good shit. Guess we'll see how it goes.

Tomorrow I'm going to brush some super hairy horses.

sigh.


My musical taste has actually changed from the 70's and 80's to the eclectic. The music of P!nk, Bruno Mars, Maron 5, Puddle of Mud, Five finger death punch, Breaking Benjamin, Goo Goo Dolls, Three Day's Grace, Shinedown, and the like are what run through my head. Who knew I'd ever get past the oldies eh?

My gal Krissy will be back in the land of milk and honey come the end of May. I can't wait to see her.

ok.

my wine and I are going to bed. It's time.

sweet dreams.

Sunday AM coffee

My adventures in Prom shopping yesterday had to be one for the books.

Arrived at the mall at 1030a and all the girls who were buying dresses had theirs picked out, tried on and purchased within 50 minutes. How's that for unbelievable!?!?!

Chyann tried on about five dresses and chose a gorgeous long one. I guess there are rules for Prom dresses - Freshmen have to wear short dresses, Sophomores wear long ones, Juniors wear long full dresses and Seniors can wear whatever they want. Who knew right? Not me since I never went to any kind of Prom.

The color is very similar to the midnight blue one she wore for the HNS induction, but that's the only similarity. The dress is .... just WOW! and looks absolutely AMAZING on her. Going to have to play around with up-do's for her hair so the back of the dress can be seen because it's really something else.
Now I'm excited for Prom. It's on the 26th of this month.

Yes of course we went to Panera bread for lunch. I had their Figi apple chicken salad this time and it was delicious! The white balsamic apple vinaigrette was to die for. I'm going to have to find a recipe for it because it knocked my socks off. YUM!

Our last stop was Kohl's, where I found the perfect purse! Couldn't find a wallet to match so that quest continues, but hey I've got the purse finally!

The group of girls who went were a great mix of personalities. I really enjoyed all of them and hearing them tell stories about school or their families was some of the funniest stuff I've heard in a while. The atmosphere was perfect for singing along to the radio at full volume on the way home too. Really we did and I loved it.

Anywho.
It's Sunday and the snow continues to melt thankfully.
All my kids are home this weekend. Feels good to have them all under one roof. Family dinners at the table and listening to their banter makes me smile. I know we did something good with all three of them. Sure makes me proud. 

NHS, 10" and more

Highlight of my week was Chyann's induction into the National Honor Society.

As you can see, the number of kids who qualify is small.

I don't got time to be taking pictures with Mom.

 I do however have time for pictures with friends, pretty typical.

Quick one of us.  Yeah the Hubby needs a hair cut. The more I harass him the longer it gets - so whatever look like Grizzly Adams if you want. 

We are very proud of Chyann and all her academic accomplishments.

Way to go kiddo! 

Somehow we jumped back into winter too and the kids got another snow day yesterday because we really did get 10 freaking inches of snow at our house on top of a thick layer of ice from all the rain that came first.

Damn that snow made for some seriously heavy shoveling.

With any luck it'll alllllll be gone soon though - we've got 60's in our future this coming week. 

Big day today.

I'm taking six lovely gals to the mall to shop for PROM dresses!

Anyone wanna come and share this misery with me?

later :)