A day in my busy life

This is for the boys!

2009-10-07T21:33:00.001-05:00

Just a little post for the boys that are becoming a very big part of our family. Next time I come at you with the camera don't turn and run, put your arm up to block me or tell me NO. Smile boys here I come!!

Happy Halloween to you!

2009-10-07T20:42:00.000-05:00

Just a quick hello and Happy Halloween to all of you! I will update and post some new pictures of what we have been up to soon. I would like to request a prayer for Kaelie as she recoups from surgery on Monday. She had her gall-bladder removed and is in a bit of pain so any words upwards for quick healing and hopefully the repair of her illness she has suffered thru for the last 3 years would be greatly appreciated!

What I have been up to

2009-09-18T12:50:00.001-05:00

It's been a long summer!! We have worked on race cars and built a shed, had barbeque's, gone racing, and in my spare time I have hidden out and gotten my creative bug working.

Without going into too much detail about everthing we have done, here are a couple projects I have done. I started a notebook with the family and their busy schedules in mind. Now if I keep it up to date that is another thing!

Here are a couple of "wallets" I threw together. I call it my money holder for the kids to raid me from. It will be the empty money wallet soon!

check in on Devin's website and see what we have (ok, they ) have been doing.

I will post more now that the temps are falling and I am to be indoors more now :( . I promise family to make you happy and post some pictures of the kids to prove I made it thru the summer without killing them!!

Are we nuts??

2009-06-10T12:37:00.002-05:00

As many of you know we are a little off our rocker, but this is getting ridiculous. For entertainment around here we have resorted to dressing up the dogs for fun. There is never a dull moment in this house, always someone dropping by or projects going on, chaos at all times. I don't know what possessed us to do these things and think that we are sane people.
As you can see it has been awhile since I have posted. Did anyone notice the sun and the warmth outside??? I am an addict, plain and simple. I cannot stand to be indoors when it is nice out. We do have a project or two brewing outside though and I will be out hopefully, finishing one of them up for the next few days. If your bored this weekend, drop by and join in the fun. I have Popsicles for you if you want to help (that always works with the little ones).

Happy 20th Anniversary

2009-05-27T12:34:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to do a shout out to my hubby...Happy Anniversary dear. We made it to 20 years today. Let's party it up and shoot for 20 more. Love you.

District Champs!!!

2009-05-23T21:41:00.000-05:00

Just a few pictures of our Lady Liberator soccer team. They pulled out a win for the first time in the history of Bolivar soccer!!!! As you can see we have an amazing goalie, Sara Scott and then of course my amazing defender, Kaelie. The boys all painted themselves up as the "Shirtless Wonders" that are usually sound at football games, but came in support of our soccer girls this time. Good luck girls on Thursday in Warrensburg!

The old in new again

2009-04-30T12:16:00.005-05:00

I as usual, was surfing the web and found a cute idea and stole it from House of Wren. I just love old vintage things and wanted one of my own. This little pretty was a table runner I purchased at a local thrift store in a bag of material for $2. The handles are from another table runner that was also in the bag. The pieces were not complete pieces they had flaws or holes but as you can see vintage is still beautiful. I hope this inspires you to whip out that sewing machine and grandmas old pillow cases, tea towels, or table runners that they so lovingly made and don't let them sit and waste away. Directions are on the link I included. Have fun and use your imagination. If you do make something send me a picture I would love to see it!

I might be a redneck if.....

2009-04-29T13:22:00.001-05:00

....this is what you did this weekend. Those of us that live in the middle of the country have to get in the grass cutting and weed eating when we can in between rain in the spring. My lovely daughter thought it would be funny if she snuck out and took an unsuspecting picture of her dear old mom weed eating in my rubber boots. (I also tromp through the woods in these helping the hubster hunt mushrooms. Wow what a site I am.) Yes this is me at my finest. Thanks to Lindsy I will now forever know how ridiculous I looked.
Before weed eating though I decided to go out and enjoy our towns big event of the year and go to the City wide garage sales. The whole town signs up and everyone cleans out their garage of all the crap...goodies....that we all fight over and hope to get the best deal. The lovely weed eater you see me with above, was a great find at $5 at a garage sale. I was told an electric one is crazy to have out here in the boonies, but it is light and I don't have a nervous breakdown everytime I try to start this little baby. I just plug in 5 extensions cords and push a button and go my merry way. BTW we do live on 3 acres, it does take alot of cords to cover that area! The box to the left was only a dollar. For those of you that scrapbook you know what a find these little treasures are. My son scored a fishing pole and everyone was happy.
To end the weeekend I started scrapping again. I have not done anything lately. My cousin Traci sent me some pictures of her beautiful kids and I did get one page done of her little clone. Like mother like daughter. She looks like she is quite comfy in front of the camera.
Since we are in soccer and track season and I have an obsession sith paper bag albums I made these little babies for all the pictures I take. I haven't printed any yet but soon they will be filled and on display on the footstool of our couch. Come by and take a look.

Prom 2009

2009-04-20T10:49:00.000-05:00

What can I say...she is growing up fast! Mom you were right when you said time flies when you have children. One minute they are crawling thru the house getting into everything and the next they are off with a boy to prom looking like a beautiful young lady. She is a sophomore dating a senior so we do have a couple more years to cry my motherly tears. Her boyfriend, Colin is a great guy though and they had a great time. Lindsy had to get in on the act to..she stole Colin's sunglasses (he found pink ones to match Kaelie's dress) and his gangster hat and they posed for dear ole' mom.

This is Kaelie's dear friend, Hillary. She is a sweet girl and totes my girl all over town when they get together, and giggle the whole time. It is always nice to see them dressed up like ladies and not in a basketball uniform (with black eyes :)) or in shorts and a t-shirt. You looked beautiful girls!!!
Realize we live in a small town. All the kids that went did not meet up here but a bunch of them did. It is a great thing for the paparazzi parents that live here. We all fight for a great shot and ooh and ahh over each others kids. Most of these kids were in diapers playing together and are now off on their way to a life without us everyday. The senior prom of 2009 has now come and gone and all we have left are memories of a beautiful night and LOTS of pictures!!

My week Wrapped Up

2009-04-13T08:42:00.001-05:00

Yes this is yet another day in my busy life. What can I say about Devin? He is a very energetic boy, very very competitive, and there is never a dull moment with him around! Here he is doing one of his many sports he enjoys, middle school track happens to be the sport of the day. He is in 4 events including long jump, 200 meter dash, the 4 X 1 relay, and the 4X2 relay. In this meet he placed 1st in all events and was happy. In the relay the boys broke a school record and in the 200 meter dash Devin shaved off 2 seconds from his time. Awesome awesome day! Mom was happy because this is how the 65 degree day ended at this track meet.

Isn't this a beautiful way to end a great day? I'll take it anytime. Please hurry back nice dry warm weather, please.

The next night and a couple nights after the track meet this is what we did. Kaelie loves this sport. Soccer to her is like breathing. She plays defense and is awesome at it!! She is a go-getter and strives to prove herself in all that she does. She even got a mention from her coach in the paper this week for her and a fellow team mate, Lindsay Kelly, for being, "the keys for us defensively tonight."Coach Edge said. "Rodgersville has a very athletic forward, and those two did a super job of being physical with her and taking her out of the play." How cool is that?? You always want to please the coach. Too bad this picture is of Clinton, good job mom. Oh well you get the point, with 3 games a week I get a little confused, I am getting old you know. Have a great week and I will try to keep you up family! Hope everyone had a happy Easter.

This one is for Mom and Ian....

2009-04-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

I don't always do what I say I will right away, but I will get around to it. I tend to be a BIG procrastinator!!! Sorry to all those unfinished projects I intend to get around to, I will get there. To my mother, I post a picture of the lovely green Jeep that my daughter, Lindsy just bought. Ok she bought it 3 weeks ago but here is the picture, finally. Pretty, ha? Her favorite color in the world.
To my nephew, Ian.. I post a picture of the not so city slicker cousins you have down in the sticks. Yes, this is a form of entertainment in these here parts. All you have to do is "text" one person and tell them you have a dirt track in your backyard and the fact that it had rained like cats and dogs the night before made them come in the multitude. The trucks out here where the brave few that ventured out and went mudding in our field on the track. They had a great time then parked them in a circle cranked up the hillbilly music and had a big ol' bonfire. Doesn't that sound like a good time, Ian??? Don't you want to come live with your crazy hillbilly cousins? No comments Denne' or Traci!!

And on to a little bit of normal life, soccer has begun again. It is weird to sit and watch Kaelie out there playing and not see Lindsy!! She is all graduated and a working girl but she still goes when she can to practice and games and helps out with the team. In case you are wondering Kaelie is number 6 the one getting ready to trip the girl next to her (in the white). She is a sweetie off the field! They won this game 4-0.

Going back in time

2009-03-19T13:16:00.002-05:00

I have tried to get organized but for some reason it just isn't happening. I can't seem to remember to email the current pictures I take to the store and go pick them up. I run to town and then remember. Oh well...I have just gone back and pulled out some old pictures and scrapped them. The one above is of my hubby and his sisters, Melissa and Denne'. I am not even sure how long ago this was taken but it is a great memory because we have lost Melissa. She was lost to colon cancer at a very young age. Denne' however, loves to call and torment me all the time. She is a great sis-in-law and wouldn't have it any other way, right Piggy Nose?

This picture is of Devin and his friend, Alex. They were in their sweet years here, now.....they are 14 and 15 and in "those years" now. I love him to death but really do you survive teenage boys to talk about it, sanely?

Well, my daughter told me I am bad about updating my blog so I apologize to those of you that care. I will try to do better. And yes mom, I will get the Jeep pic up soon. Have a great day.

It''s been a busy few days!

2009-03-09T13:20:00.002-05:00

First of all, we spent all weekend at the Indoor Nationals in Lebanon, Mo. It was a great weekend and great weather!!! Devin raced his stock flat kart on Friday night and ended up finishing 5th, not bad for only his second race in it! Here you see him "knucking" Ben to start the race. Devin is in the black #10 kart.

On Saturday Kaelie and Devin both raced their winged F-200's and Kaelie won this one. As you can see she got the sexy trophy girl and everything.LOL Sorry the picture is so bad I was running trying to get by the flagmen and announcer to get a straight shot, so it's blurry but you get the idea. After this race they were able to remove their wings and race with the 500's. The kart's they drive are 200's but because they raced on Coke syrup Devin was able to not only pass the whole pack of 500's he lapped them two times for the win!!!! This was a highlight for him for sure! Kaelie broke her brake rod after the first lap and didn't get to race.

On a lighter side I wanted to share with you a picture of my darling daughter when she was about 5 months old....isn't she adorable! This is Lindsy, she is now 19 so it is the age that mom wants to show these pictures off just to embarrass her, ya know. The products used are from my Scarlet Lime subscription. If comments are left I will share them with her for sure.

This little girl is our newest addition. Lindsy received her for Valentines day from her boyfriend. Her name is Paisley she is a lab pup and a little fireball. This is our first grand dog so I thought we would show her off.

KYLA

2009-02-23T22:44:00.007-06:00

Four years ago today we lost a special girl. Her name was Kyla Quennoz, she was 15. She touched so many lives in so many ways you can't imagine. Lindsay writes her feelings here that so many of us feel. I have, like many others asked, "Why God? Why them?". I heard something one time that made sense to me. God takes the good people that so many of us don't understand why they had to go because if He only took the bad it would not change our lives and make us learn what is important in life and make a difference. She definitely touched us and made a difference in our lives, we will never forget her! Kyla is one reason I take so many pictures. I figure good ones or bad ones I at least have that memory preserved. I treasure every one of them too. She was the same age as my oldest daughter and a friend of hers, as well as a friend to many many others. Thank you Kyla for being our special angel on earth as well as in heaven, and thank you for being their friend, and thank you for changing our lives...for the better.

Lucas Oil Winter Nationals

2009-02-09T11:11:00.000-06:00

We spent many hours getting their karts ready. I would like to say thanks to Martin for the time and dedication he puts into the sport for us. I have included a picture of our new Nationals champ, Devin. Kaelie won their heat race but came up a little short and finished second. We are really proud of these two. They play hard and race hard. Devin also tried his hat at a flat kart this weekend for the first time. He made it into the A feature out of about 30 entries and placed 6th. He had a blast racing with the adults in this race, and was a fair competitor.
Here you see my two in the front, Kaelie starting pole position and Devin on her side. If you look real hard (good pictures are hard to get here) Their tires are already into each other and they hadn't even gotten the green flag yet. Ok, Kaelie's tire is into Devin trying to push him out of the way I guess. Sibling rivalry is everywhere in our family.
Here is Kaelie and Martin working on her kart in the pits before she goes out on the track. Checking gears and making sure everything is tightened and ready to go. We had a great weekend and the outcome was not too bad either.

A tough Competitor

2009-02-03T09:02:00.002-06:00

We started out our weekend on a great note. The kids received awards at the annual Racers Reunion and got to meet Carl Edwards to boot. They had a great time, too bad it was as dark as a cave and my picture sucked. Oh well they had fun. Maybe someday one or both of mine could be on the stage and the ones handing out their autographs. Carl was great and just like one of the "normal" people you would meet on an everyday basis. I think we forget when people become celebrities that they are normal people too. He was great and got right down in the middle of everyone and asked just as many questions from everyone about their racing as they all did about his. Thanks Carl for being such a great role model.
Now onto a new note..... do you see how pretty my little girl looks (above)?? Well don't let that fool you she gets out and scraps with the boys and girls for that matter and defense is her strong point! She got the award above for Track Champion (tied with her brother) but included in the class were 7 other people....all boys! She had a basketball game last night and my word for the day happened to be "orange" so I thought long and hard and thought a picture of a basketball up close would be fitting for our family and that particular color. Well I got to the game and sat watching and watched as Kaelie went to guard a girl and try to get the ball, the girl decided she was going to keep the ball and swung her arm around to get Kaelie loose and at the same time both of their heads went down. I guess from that you can tell there was contact between the forehead of the other girl and Kaelie's cheekbone. You can't say she doesn't play hard I guess. Can you believe how rough girls basketball is?? My beautiful daughter is now being called "Bruiser". As for the color of the day mine changed to black, blue and red from the orange ball game. She is still pretty though..she just feels tougher now. In fact two girls on the team asked her last night if they could get a picture with her today when it was nice and puffy and bruised. What can I say that's my girl!
(BTW she said she would have smiled for the picture but it hurt too bad.) Her coach contacted me thru facebook and said I forgot to add that she actually did get the steal and our team got the ball. Way to go Kaelie.

Snow days in Bolivar

2009-01-30T10:40:00.000-06:00

As many of you know we have had ice, sleet, and snow Monday and Tuesday. As a result my children have had no school and lots of hours to sled and yesterday they decided to go out and build snow men. Not much to do on these cold days in the country ,I guess. Here are my 14, and 15 year old with the neighbor and one of my childcare kids.
After sledding the past few days with, mind you our towns Wal-mart no longer carries sleds, their version of a sled was a pizza pan two place mats and an old tarp. Had a blast sledding down the neighbors hill and in town on many fun spots. Yes, we are rednecks!!! They rounded out the days off with a couple snow people. Kaelie decided to make hers a girl. Yes it does have boobs and on the back she put butt cheeks. Any good woman knows we need to add butt cheeks to make it proper. Add a little flower and candy canes for arms, dig through moms scrapping pile and came up with some ribbon and buttons.
Devin came up with a nature inspired version I guess. A few rocks and some grass and he was good to go. Very proud are they with their little snow people. This is the happenings at our house the past few days not much more has gone on due to the weather but never a dull moment anyway, fun is always to be had around here.

POD...

2009-01-26T13:01:00.000-06:00

I do recall posting that I would not be good at updating this POD thing on here...so as usual I have them taken just did not get them up. I still have not included all of them but here are a few. I will start out with "tip". My tip is either clean before each load..the cat...or clean out the dryer of all foreign objects before loading clothes. I was unloading the dryer this day and when I came back in the laundry room to put the wet clothes in I found Tinkerbelle in there instead. Don't try this at home!!
"Instruct" is my word for this day. As many of you know I am married to a basketball coach. He is now the head coach for the Bolivar Lady Liberators. He loves this role and knows that God had a plan (nothing we ever dreamed would happen) when this happened. But all in all he loves it and wouldn't trade it for anything. The plus is he can coach and has coached our girls! Just a little info...they won STATE last year!!!!!
"Water" is always always in this sink. I do child care and have 3 of my own children so dishpan hands are a must here. My dishwasher isn't cleaning so great these days (not that I ever used it anyway) so this is the water in my life..just call me June. LOL
"Fruit" On Christmas eve we were blessed to receive Florida Oranges form the father-in-law. He lives in St. Pete Beach,Florida. Yea, I feel sorry for him too...NOT! Esp after the storm we are supposed to be getting today. Anyway I added some apples and watch the kids attack. My children are strange they actually love this stuff. Thanks for looking and good luck with the weather coming your way. Pray for no power outages.

Jolly..Squares

2009-01-16T10:56:00.000-06:00

My word for they day(yesterday) is "Jolly". I took time and thought what does that mean to me?? I looked at things for inspiration online and nothing hit me, then I went into the kitchen and saw this cup from Sonic. It was left over from the games the night before. I thought dang, I would LOVE to have a Sonic coke, and that's when it hit me. When I really have the urge to have one these little things make me very very jolly on the first sip. It is like my day will be fine after that. So after along drawn out explanation this is my POD....Sonic cokes make me JOLLY!
Today's word is "square"...I was, as usual, cleaning up my scrapping mess and this "square" stood out because I have 2 of these little pretties that sit on my desk and hold all my what-nots. They are old soda crates and at the $1 each I paid, I not only got a steal they are priceless to me. Yes it is a little warped from age but so am I so I won't complain too much (about the crates, about myself I can complain all I want!). This makes me excited for warm weather and garage sales, the snow outside isn't helping much. Oh well, have a great day and stay warm and cozy this weekend!

2009 POD journal

2009-01-15T13:35:00.002-06:00

As I have already said I am challenging myself to a "picture of the day" (POD) for each day of 2009. This is really rough for me because those that know me know that
1: I am a bit scatterbrained
2. Because of this I get sidetracked easily
3. I do babysit small children and attend multiple games for my children and husband year around.
4. I am always busy. (yes, Kendra I am trying to learn the word NO)

Anyway in stead of trying to do the challenge properly and post on line everyday also, with a picture and something clever to say, I am going to keep them hidden away in my camera and make notes in my journal, then put the cooresponding pictures in there. This way my children can look back on how crazy not only our lives were but their mother too. I hope all of you out there remember no matter what kind of camera or how good you take pictures, take them...LOTS of them. You never know when you won't be here anymore or your loved ones won't, so treasure those memories and then if you feel led scrap them! I made this journal out of my kids cereal box when they finished with it. It is able to expand since it is two pieces and I can include as much as I would like. After all anything left sitting long enough is scrappable ya know. Have a great day.

POD

2009-01-14T17:37:00.000-06:00

Some of you may think I am a little off my rocker for letting my kids race, but besides it being in their blood, I feel like they are safe in a winged, caged, and belted kart. My son on the other hand always has to test the boundries! He has accomplished alot in his few years of racing , but always pushing just a little harder every time. My picture of day is of the wing on his first kart. Needless to say, it did not look this way until his last race of the year that year. He did not even flip. He just came around a corner and the kart in front of him hit a rut (that should not have been there) and stopped on a dime. Devin then rear ended him in a turn and got hit from behind and the kart behind him landed on top of his kart. He had a bruise from the seatbelts but all in all was fine. He of course climbed right back in after being checked out, and the wing being bent back up, to look like this (kind of) and replaced a few parts, and raced his little heart out. Again, was taken out by a child that was in their first race that plowed into him, but we did have a great weekend. This by the way was Nationals, and he was not able to finish. Which has led to the desire to win even more since then. So the word for the day was Sport, and this is the extreme sport that my children are in and love. Boogity boogity.

Life at my house in the new year

2009-01-13T12:01:00.000-06:00

Well let's see... I am working hard on my "goals" I am not going to post my 365 pictures online all the time though. They are going into a journal I have here to write in along with the pictures. I can't take that pressure!!! You are doing an awesome job Kendra!!!
Meet Lindsy and her boyfriend Reece. Then meet the two amigos that have been friends since Devin was born (literally I babysat Cord before I even got pregnant with Devin ). They are never serious and always entertaining!!!
This is a typical day around here. Nuts I know!
Devin's sponsor invested in a new toy...a flat kart, then proceeded to slap on a YF200 motor and took him for a spin in a parking lot to test drive. Wow it can get up and go. I will say no more the mom thing kicks in now.....
And here are my girls. Aren't they pretty??? Yes, I took Kaelie to the local tattoo parlor and let my 16 year old "tat" herself up for the new year...NOT! All the basketball girls are into the temporary tattoos...I think it makes them look tougher out on the court or something. Well I just wanted to give you a sneak peak at the family in 2009. Sooner or later I will have time again to update this blog more often. I would love to hear from all of you. feel free to leave me a comment (only nice ones!).

New Year, New Me??

2009-01-06T21:54:00.003-06:00

Ok so, I have not been updating very good lately. My camera seems to have lost contact with my hands, and I am on a fiendish cleaning frenzy through my house.
I have not even been able to torment my children with random snapshots at their expense and make them whine annoyingly to me to stop taking pictures and get the random shots of each persons palm as they grow. Does anyone else have 34,000 pictures of the palm of your kids hands??? Devin on the other hand can't be serious and "just smile" he has to make a face and groan everytime I come around. I think this will be one of my new year goals...annoy everyone as much as possible with the camera, while preserving memories. I am going to really go all out and try to do the 365 challenge!! Kendra please help me!!! I may need a support group.

There my first "resolution" as some call them.

Let's see number two...
I am thinking that my house will be organized and clean ( ok smarty pants pick yourself up of the floor and stop laughing at me!) I am going like a mad woman around the house, I even cleaned out the medicine cabinet. Dang girl, things expired in the year 2000!!! I mean really get a grip. I don't like to think of myself as a pack rat until I go on my cleaning sprees. Then I stand there and think why do we have this from 19... whatever. I don't have the patience to pile and organize then have a garage sale like most people. No I pile them into the back of my truck to haul in to the local charity place and think, wow this will help someone I am sure!! Only to find it still in the back of my truck 2 months later and my husband throws it in the dumpster telling me I should just get rid of the things to begin with. This really is a problem I have. So organization
should be bumped to number one I am sure. Or should I take a picture of the mess and then also take after shots. Yep, that is what I should do!

Number three...
I need to find peace. I used to be a very calm easy going person, but lately, not so much. Drama reigns high in our life for some reason...always someone we know with something that somehow engulfs us. My kids are teens, but pretty easy teens to keep up with, none of the "big" problems (yet). They are very active and keep me hopping but I love it (and them) no complaints. So for me I need to not get so bent out of shape and live life and love every minute. Yep, thats what I am going to work towards. I want to spend more quality time with the hubby and play more games with the family. We got a few games for christmas and have a very good relaxing fun time as a family doing that. I found out during our 9 days without electricity, when we had the ice storm , how great life is when your turn off the computer, tv, and telephone and spend some time with your family.

One other random thought came to my mind ( I know imagine that) I want to include the fact that I dont want to stress about being "in" the pictures and try to be on the other side of the camera some so that some family member years down the road knows that I existed and what I looked like, all the messy sloppy times as well as the dressed up posed shots. (this one will be the hardest one!!!!).

So from my blabbering brain to yours enjoy 2009 and spend more quality time with the ones you love, sit back and relax, enjoy every moment, take a picture to remember them and then...clean it all up and put on the shelf so you dont leave a mess. Happy New Year to all of you out there!!!
The Archers

She Shoots She Scores!!!

2008-12-30T12:54:00.002-06:00

The basketball season has begun, and since it is Christmas break and "they" seem to think that everyone is off for 2 weeks and can attend ball games during the daytime hours, we are playing throughout the break. Our girls are in Lebanon in a tourney and had their first games yesterday. When Kaelie got home she was so excited that she did so good I forgot to ask the scores, but both teams, JV and varsity did pull it out. If you know Kaelie at all she comes and goes with her confidence levels, but when it's there you can't stop her! Yesterday I guess was one of those days. She played quite a bit and ended up scoring 11 points, with 3 -3 pointers and one 2 point shot. Congrats on a great day Kaelie. The picture above is at a different game because I am stuck home tied up with 2 year olds telling me what to do. Oh well at least I don't lack in the area of games to attend, I will be at the night time ones.

Just wanted you to know I am alive still

2008-12-23T12:41:00.001-06:00

I have been overun with cleaning, kids, christmas, cooking, and cats. I have not gotten any new pics for the fam to see and no exciting news to report so.....I will just let you know I am still alive and breathing as of now and will get on the ball soon and start keeping my blog updated. Have a happy day (just dont go to the mall, it's insane!!!)

Sweet 16!

2008-12-12T10:39:00.003-06:00

This would be Kaelie at her best. She is ham and loves to goof around with her friends. She is always a light when she walks in a room. Thanks Kaelie for brightening our lives 16 years ago today!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY.

Basketball has begun

2008-12-09T11:16:00.000-06:00

And we have begun another sports season and are in full swing. God forbid we get a break throughout the year. Anyway....this is Devin
he is supposed to be out of football season but as you can see tackling is still going on during basketball season. I think they play so many sports that they get confused as to what season it really is. Ok not really this is just a jump ball but it looks more like a tackle. He did very good the other night they won, and he scored 19 points, the game you see here they weren't so lucky they did loose this one, not without a lot of effort though. I guess it's just another page waiting to be scrapped. I'll hop right on that!

Circle Punch Happiness

2008-12-03T10:05:00.000-06:00

After a trip out to the tree house to borrow a cirlcle punch I came up with this little beauty. I wandered on out ot Kendra's house to sneak a peek at her little tree house hideaway and her great scrapping room. She is a great friend and great scrapper and has soo many supplies that it was like a field trip for my daughter and me to visit her and her family. You need to go on over to her blog and read her entries. She is a great story teller and will keep you coming back daily to check in and see a new post. If you are in to scrapbooking you really need to check out her blog she is the best! Thanks again Kendra for letting me invade your house and borrow your tools. I will get them back to you, I promise!!

Happy Birthday To My Girl!

2008-11-24T11:07:00.002-06:00

On Saturday my girl celebrated her 19th birthday!! Wow does time fly just like my momma told me it would! I am a couple days late posting (it was a busy weekend) but wanted everyone to know how proud I am to say Happy Birthday I love you!!!!!

Badges For Sale

2008-11-21T22:17:00.013-06:00

May I see your license please? Ha just kidding! Here are a few picture holders (aka badge holders) that I made. I am going to put them in the shop . If anyone is interested email me and I will make you some. They are designed to put pictures into the additional sleeves and hang on a diaper bag , purse, backpack, keyring, etc.. Great little Christmas presents/ stocking stuffers, or great for teachers presents too. Let's not forget daycare workers need great little pick me ups as well, (don't forget us women at home and in day cares with your children!) The teens and little children in your life that want to carry pictures of family members or friends with them would love them too. Included in each picture holder set is 4 cards front and back with a ring to clip on to your bag. Each set can hold 7 photos, wallet size or smaller. Each one for only $5 (no 2 will be exactly alike).

Advent Calendar My Way

2008-11-20T10:02:00.002-06:00

First of all I have decided that for photography purposes I have to repaint at least one wall in my house white. After running through the house looking for a wall to hang this silly thing up on to snap a picture, I realized I don't like white. Brown, black, yellow even purple, pink, and lime green, but no white anywhere. I even stepped outside and very quickly decided that was not going to happen, IT IS COLD out there!! So the pics are bad but you get the point I made an advent calendar.

Do you want to hear a secret??? I found some old white jean capris of my girls and used one of the legs for the background and then went out to the fire pit and got a stick for the hanger and rummaged around to find scraps of fabric to make the rest. Jeeze am I cheap or thrifty and money cautious? Just wondering your opinion.
I used a soft felt for this album and used light blue, soft pinks, and greens for pages on the inside. Thanks for looking. Have a great day.
Kelly

Girls Weekend Getaway

2008-11-20T09:33:00.000-06:00

After many years of trying and never happening we finally did it. We, myself (Kelly) , Toni (my sister), Lindsy (my daughter), and my Pauline (my mom) all meet up in Lake of the Ozarks. Our Aunt and Uncle let us borrow their condo and laugh the nights away. A special thanks to Aunt Lee and Uncle Larry for the great place to stay and to all the men and kids for giving us up for one weekend to enjoy ourselves. I know there is a special girl missing, Kaelie. She decided to stay behind and go to the school semi-final football game and cheer them on in the spiiting snow adn 20 degree weather. The game did not turn out the way they had hoped but she had a great time. She also intended to go hunting but that had to wait until this next weekend they forgot to get up early Sunday. See what happens when moms away. They all sleep in too long and miss out.

Football and the Brown Paper Bag

2008-11-13T10:13:00.003-06:00

I have beena busy little bee while the computer was down. I have an obsession with making paper bag albums. Yes, they are made out of brown lunch bags. This one is for Devin's football season he wrapped up in middle school. I like little mini books because I have a short attention span and can do one theme and move on to the next book and theme. Do they have a group for brown paper bag addicts with short attention spans?

Buttons

2008-11-11T11:13:00.002-06:00

I found some little sayings and thought I would share the fun with you. I found more but here are just a few that I liked. As you can tell my family is nuts and keeps me on my feet. We are not a sane bunch by a long stretch! Anyway enjoy and have a great day!

I am back and they are CHAMPS

2008-11-07T14:36:00.003-06:00

So let's see many moons ago I had this computer and it would do what I asked then came along a "worm" and crawled through all the little files and closed down any options of opening up pictures or programs. Yes we sere hit and hit hard! Thank GOD a friend is smarter than we are and could salvage my pictures from behind the geat black screen we had. We are fixed and still reloading programs but thought I should explain that I did not indeed die, just my computer did and am living amnd breathing again to post daily boring things that interest me and go on and on about how great my kids are. Well enough jabbering I am off to watch the little ones run thru the house. Check out Devin's website at www.devinarcherracing.com. Kaelie's website will be up and running in the next few weeks!

Countyline Speedway Champs

2008-10-07T11:36:00.002-05:00

Kaelie
It was a long hard fought year for these kids! They bumped, wrecked, spun out and worked their little fingers to the bone with the help of their crew chiefs. It has all come to an end finally and each one had led in points at one time or another. The outcome??? 12K (Kaelie) and the 21 (Devin) tied for the championship. Then only a couple points behind was the great competitor K9 (Caelan McCracken). I figured ladies first in the pictures (since they are my kids). No Kaelie wasn't as happy with the outcome because she was out to prove GIRLS RULE! But she did make a statement as well as did the boys. This is a great class and girls can race too and are feared at times. LOL. Thanks to everyone that helps out , esp Martin for all the long hard hours he puts in to make them great racers. And Devins' sponsor, Randy. The sponsors of CGI (Dennis) and El Rodeo. Also to the competition on the track. Thanks for the great racing every week and the fun we have out there! Yes, there are up to 10 in our class but these three were the ones fighting hard each week to get that track championship because points were so close.
Devin
Caelan

Thanks to the kids, the parents, and the track owners for a great place to have our family each and every weekend. Now if any of you have an ideas what the heck are we going to do on Saturday nights now? Ok, well what will we do after the next couple of weekends get passed us. Good luck at Got Milk and Boogieman the next few weekends see you there!

The week in a nutshell

2008-10-06T11:54:00.000-05:00

Kaelie started volleyball finally. Here are a few pics...

Devin and the football season continues...So far no losses.
The only loss was this bunch of ribs after little man got into them. As you can see he enjoys his ribs! Not much time to post today..Just a few pics, I will update more later. Have a great week!

BHS Homecoming 08

2008-10-02T08:36:00.003-05:00

Homecoming has come a gone another year. Kaelie enjoyed the event by celebrating with her volleyball team in the parade. As you can see our colors are blue, gold, and white. The kids get into this, as they should, and dress up and celebrate being kids. We have a little tradition at our school that the kids started a few years ago, although they were put on hold last year but the tradition has picked up and continued on by having the "Shirtless Wonders" painted and cheering at all the games. "Liberators" is spelled out on the guys chests and they cheer through heat and, rain, or cold weather for our team!!! They girls paint them up and help get in the spirit of things by wearing tanks with a football theme on them. (Mom said ok to "shirted wonders" for them). Her are the girls, Kaelie and Kaliegh (how funny) and Colin (Kaleie's BF with the horns). Below are the guys celebrating being a high school student and all that is fun about these days. By the way WE WON!!! Have a great week.

Check out Huckleberrylayne.com

2008-09-26T08:41:00.004-05:00

Bookmarks....well I was doing some therepy I guess. I sat out in my scrapcave and was trying to figure out what to do and this is what I came up with. I took them down to Dawn at the shop. She will have them out on the showroom floor for a quick grab and go gift. Stop by and check out her new items for fall and pick up a great smelly item while you are there!

Tinkerbelle & the prayingmantis

2008-09-25T08:39:00.003-05:00

This is our cat, Tinkerbelle. She is as most cats very curious. The other night she found this poor little bug on the driveway and decided to test her limits. The mantis did not back down! As you can see below the little buggy is a fearsome little thing. It fought and fought with Tink and even attached itself a few times to her nose. They are wonderous creatures and I was fasinated. In the end Tink won and the the bug did not (we do have other curious cats) but it did take quite a battle on the bugs part.

To honor the little guy and the upclose coolness of him I scrapped a page. Boy what us obssesed scrappers won't use for a layout! Have a great day.

It has begun

2008-09-23T09:51:00.002-05:00

So I took forever to post these, they are from last Tuesday. Devin began his last year in Middle school football last week. He is the running back and lineman. They are also trying him at quarterback some. He had a great game but no one scored on either team. In middle school they don't play til someone wins they just play the allotted time. He is number 13 in case you wondered.

This one was blurry but I loved the shot. He has the ball and is running quickly away from the Willard guys. I would be too, not because I am supposed to but because they scare me! Heck I run from Devin at home when I see him coming (he really really likes to tackle).

In this shot he is the one on the ground tackling the guy with the ball. He does love to tackle!!! He however does suffer from a bone bruise on his back pelvic bone area on the growth plate. What a trooper. I would be laid up and whining. Don't worry, he does whine once he gets home.

Here is the boy at a timeout. My he is getting so big. I know doesn't sound right once they aren't toddlers to put it that way but he is 5'10 and such a great young man not a little boy anymore. :( He is the one with the helmet off. Just thought you would like to get some shots of my crazy busy life. Football has begun and Kaelie just started volleyball. She gets to start playing later this week (she started late). I will be sure to get some pics in when I get some action shots of her too. Have a great day and thanks for looking!

Cookies & Tires

2008-09-16T09:14:00.003-05:00

So I love to go to the Pioneer Woman's site and look up recipes. As you can see we found a great sugar cookie one and tried it. Do you think she would be proud? I think not!!!!! It started off ok..then.......they got a little nutso! The cookies turned out tasting great but a little much in the icing department (thank you Matt and Lindsy) See how precise they were at the beginning then..

On Sunday night Martin treated us to a treat by going to Lucas Oil Speedway, to enjoy the modified and World of Outlaw races. We had a great time (despite freezing to death) but when we went down in the pits to visit with the racers they love, they ended up with these for some reason. Needless to say Devin has already made a bedside table out of his (boy does it stink!) Mom is going to have Febreeze it or something, it is very smelly. What goes through my kids heads? Where they dropped on their heads as babies or what? FYI...Saturday's races will be made up on this next Saturday night (rain in the middle of the heats stopped us). Double features come out and watch!

Happy Birthday Sharon! Here are a few inspirations

2008-09-11T12:33:00.004-05:00

Love this for the Christmas season coming up. If you are anything like me, I procrastinate. OK well, I choose to say I will get to it when I get in the mood and get that crafty mojo going on. Yea, that's what I do not the "P" word. Anyway, it's cool and would look great on one of my 13 trees. So, I have a problem with hoarding, we've covered that before. By the way, we still have a few cats up for adoption. See, I am getting better.

These are the coolest! I as always, was surfing the net, I get a great tan doing that ya know. And I found this idea. I like to find these things and challenge myself with simple projects (that always turn in to major ones!). I as usual did not keep track of where I found it just emailed myself, since no one else does, so I would remember. For you crafty people needing storage this is the coolest! If you figure it out please send me a picture when you make it. Then I will get around to doing it too. :)

By the way, I would like to say Happy Birthday to my great Mother in Law, Sharon! She is a great "other mother" to me and I hope that she has a fun filled day and night out on the town. OK, you are probably working and going out with the only child left within the state, Hi Denne', but kiss Kaitlyn and pinch Denne's piggy nose, and have a wonderful day! Wish we could see you more. Can someone do something about the gas prices so we can see family more!

another scrappy night

2008-09-03T13:00:00.000-05:00

You can see he still has it. What you ask, well he did complain of sore legs and an aching back, but he did hit a couple home runs!! He said if he hits a homer he does not have to run as hard to get to base, so it is easier. So as you can see he still has it and is still the love able ol' Darin. This was a back to school softball tourney that the staff all played in.
Lindsy and Kaelie did not get to make their trip this year to go and see grandpa Archer (darn the luck, he lives in St. Pete Beach). However I did find photos from last year and decided to use some of my SL kit and scrap a remembrance of the beach. Don't you love the fashion accessory on Kaelie' arm? The trip was right after she broke her wrist racing last year. She did have a fantastic tan line!
This page I am going to enter into a contest over at Scrappin the Music. They had Bon Jovi as the inspiration music this week. "It's My Life" was the song and perfect for Kaelie and her go get em' attitude. Probably won't win but it was fun entering and making the page. Have a great rainy day.

This is kinda scary!!! Check this out

2008-09-03T09:25:00.001-05:00

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5odhh_pop-corn-telephone-portable-microon_news

A friend emailed this to me and I thought maybe this would be interesting to the rest of you. Check it out by clicking onthe link.
Kelly

One, Two, Three

2008-09-01T16:13:00.002-05:00

One

Two

Three

Yes, Caelan did it again!! Kaelie ran a great race along with Caelan, she just drove too hard into a corner and spun on her 2nd to the last lap, recovered herself but Caelan was just too fast and crossed the finish line before she could catch up. Congrats to Caelan McCracken for the second week in a row. Devin came in third with troubles they figured out after the races concluded. He should be in contention with the other two next week. Watch out it is gonna get good! For a better story check this out (she is so good at story telling!).

Congratulations You Have Just Been Passed By A Girl!

2008-08-25T08:59:00.003-05:00

Kaelie has raced her little heart out for two years and never complained about what her kart looks like, as long as she was out on the track competing. Not one word about the painters tape and reflector tape numbers, or the ever changing nose and tail that is 5 years old and cracked and bondoed many times. She has won quit a few races with this little gem but lost a few too, but always had a good attitude, congratulating her fellow competitors. Finally she can go out on the track and not only show those boys what a girl can do, but look good too. She designed the color scheme and made sure everyone would know it was a girl racing. The above picture is the kart before and now....

She is one styling chick. GO KAELIE GO! I am very proud of her and her attitude and dedication to racing. This is a true love to her.

Last week she took second place and this week fifth. Congratulations to Caelan McCracken for his first win. He raced hard and pulled it off. He is a great kid and a a great racer. Congrats on a well deserved win Caelan! Keep up with all our kids at the CLS website.

Here is the proud momma of her new kart. She is actually cleaning it without being told. The world is not ending though, her room is still a mess. Life can go on now the world will keep revolving even thougha miracle has occured.

WOw is that UGLY

2008-08-22T10:04:00.003-05:00

Ok so I was "surfing the net" and found these and they just made me laugh. I think sometimes you just need a good laugh to make the day better. Are these the ugliest things ever???

I do own this dress however, and was planning on wearing it to the first big event my kids had at school. Do you think they will like it? Hope I don't trip. Those bands look a little tricky. Let me know which event would be appropriate for this little number. LOL my kids would DIE! But that is what motherhood is all about, right? Have a great weekend.

A few more moments scrapped

2008-08-21T12:58:00.003-05:00

I have been a busy little beaver ha? This one is from my monthly kit from Scarletlime. I love them!!! I am actually venturing back in time too and pulling out some old photos that I love and scrapping them. I swore that I was going to leave the old pics alone and just go in chronological order that I could never scrap enough to accomplish anything from the past and make it worth while. Now I see that it is fun to throw an old picture in with the new ones and it either makes us laugh at the memory or just say awwwe. The above picture is of Kaelie and her friend Leah just being teenagers and having fun. Wish we could remember how to do that more often as adults.

This picture is not the best and I could not mess with its lighting on the computer because I did not have time to get to the store and print so I used my little camera printer. They are great for quickness but bad if your lighting or anything is off. Oh well as you can see I have a girl after my own heart. Lindsy looking like the crazy cat woman (which is what they call since I can turn down not stray, even when they are prego!). We both have a soft spot for kitties. BTW anyone need a kitten out there? We have a few up for adoption. Thanks again to Kendra I am having a blast with all the supplies. I am going to call you Santa Clause.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the girls when they where little. Aren't they cute??? What I want to know is that thy when they are young you are always saying,"I can't wait until they are out of this stage, is it ever going to get any easier?". Then when they are older, Lindsy is almost 19 now. I am saying," I would do anything for her to be a little girl again." Any advice form you moms out there??? Just one aging mother pondering life.

2008-08-20T12:12:00.000-05:00

So I have had a chance to sit down and scrap. Wow was it fun. I am venturing into the world of 12x12's. I ususally feel intimidated by them but I am slowly getting into the mode. What is it that people say..scrap mojo is kicking in. Boy I am getting cooler in my old age. Ok, please don't tell my kids I just said that, they will hide in total humiliation. As you can see my son likes to STRESS his mother out continuosly.
SO here is a tidbit of the past posts scrapped please comment me so I can check out your blogs too. Thanks for looking.

Today is their Birthday!

2008-08-13T13:37:00.002-05:00

This is Matt and Devin. Devin mine by birth, Matt mine by luck. Matt turns 16 today and Devin turns 14 today. They are great friends and share the same birthday how cool is that?!?!?! This is a little snapshot from Branson 2 weekends ago at the Chinese restaurant. They really were enjoying their food! Have a happy Birthday boys!!!!!!!

Branson Continued...

2008-08-12T14:19:00.002-05:00

Sorry that took forever to put up and I dont know what happened to the pictures before. Someone saw them. Anyway, Kaelie, Devin and I all went on the Skycoaster. It is where they put you in these pretty little get-ups called harnesses and tote you up 100 feet inn the air and then drop you into a full fledged swinging motion over everyones heads. It was awesome. Thanks Martin for the experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Devin was scared to death but made it through the flight. I recommend you going down to Branson and trying this for yourself...even I wasn't too old.

Branson 08

2008-08-04T20:20:00.001-05:00

Well this weekend we had off to enjoy and we did just that. We packed up and headed down to Branson. Matt came along with us but Lindsy had to work. As you can see they are sporting some great new cowboy hats. We got in a little racing of course this weekend. What would it be without it. We went on a go-kart track and went drifting. It was fun but we all hit the wall a few times. And were soaked when we were done.
Darin is pumped up and ready to race. Then we took a leisurely trip to the dam and the guys did a little fishing and Kaelie floated in the ice cold (spring fed) water. I of course was snapping pictures the whole time. Of course no fish were biting it was to dang HOT! Only 100 degrees, so the boys joined her in the raft and floated and splashed each other all the way across the bay. Martin and Darin continued to fish,and believe it or not, no fish were harmed. Matt did catch a mean crawdad though. Tomorrow I will share some more pictures and tell you about the rest of the trip. We got brave and attempted a great feat for a old woman and her kids....stay tunes til tomorrow.

Boys will be boys

2008-07-30T11:03:00.000-05:00

Ok so you see it started out by mom asking Devin to simply haul the old basketball goal off. A simple request turned into a fun night for the boys. A friend, Kelby Taylor was over and they were supposed to do moms chore I asked of them but as you can see they saw potential in the old thing. They first tried to ride the thing out to the dump pile but when that faultered out came the tools, and waa-laa you have a boys new toy. Hook it ot a four wheeler and risk your life and limb and fun can be found in anything. Yes the moms were watching thats Karalee (Kelby's mom) and we have learned to pick our battles. They don't know the word slow and they are both racers so they know no fear. We just sat back and laughed as they drug each other around and did a few flips as they catapulted each other around the corners. I must say though Devin was not as kind to Kelby on the turns. Then there is my sweet little girl, Kaelie. Yes she was mad cause she wasn't home and saw the pictures later and was not in on the fun. What kind of rednecks am I raising anyway?

Weekend of racing

2008-07-22T10:14:00.000-05:00

Here is Darin at Midway Sunday waiting for the kids to go out on the track. I am really excited that I got to sit down and scrap with all my new stuff that Kendra gave me the other day. She is a great inspiration. And go to the Scrap Nook with the gift card Martin gave me for my bday.
Here is Devin buckling up and going out on the track. Does he look a little annoyed with me taking his picture? Yea he is but he loves this later. He took second place Sunday at Midway.
Here is my little dirt princess, Kaelie. She did not have such a great Sunday but had fun racing. She loves this dirty stuff so much. She is just flat out ingnoring me. Have agreat day.

Update for the day

2008-07-19T16:19:00.003-05:00

Kaelie wins again!! She pulled one out last night at the Warsaw track for the Missouri State Championship Series.. Devin took 3rd. They are now Kaelie 1 win and Devin 2 wins out of 3. She won to Caelan Mccracken buy a nose I will get the picture from his mom and show you how close it was. It was great racing!!! She also lost part of her muffler and still finished. There was no stopping her when she could see the checkered flag coming. Tonights racing will be at Countyline Speedway for the Track points racing and tommorow will continue the State Series at Midway Speedway in Lebanon. We will keep you updated.

Another day in the Dirt

2008-07-17T17:28:00.005-05:00

Here is how our summer is going. Dirt, dirt, dirt...and a little more dirt. I swear if they are not racing they are on the track in our back yard racing and jumping the four wheelers. I don't think my house will ever be clean. Or my pool..they think it is a giant bathtub. I guess you might be wondering who these people are? Lindsy's boyfriend, Derik, decided to take her for a swim (isn't that nice of him?) Devin decided to help of course, and our next door neighbor, Cassidy, joined in to. Kaelie is shooting bottle rockets with her boyfriend Collin, and seeing who they can hit out in the field. Dang we really are rednecks aren't we. My parents really did not raise me this way, sorry mom and dad but I have become a HICK, and I think we like it.

Weekend of Racing

2008-07-07T15:26:00.000-05:00

So the weekend was full of racing finally and no rain. Wow that was an accomplishment of its own. Anyway... Kaelie ended the weekend with a win at Midway and was very happy with the result! Here she sits waiting her turn on the track and then checking her tire pressures before heading out. Devin is hiding in the background helping out. Devin by the way, finished third to Brandon Kidwell. It was a great race Brandon.

Here is a picture of Kaelie crossing the finishline at the track at Midway (Lebanon). On our way home last night the sunset was so beautiful and we thought we would share the view with you of our great Ozarks sunsets. Have a great week.

All Stars

2008-06-30T08:58:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know there is an All-Star team picked for the Southwest area each year for soccer and they get to play in a special game. Lindsy was honored to be picked for it this year along with two boys from her school, Ryan Toombs and Tanner Roberts. The teams are chosen ranging from Rolla all the way to the Joplin area and every town in between. They played Thursday night at the Lake Country soccer fields and had a great time. It was a great ending to her high school soccer career. She was not lucky enough to score but did get one assist.

I stole your stolen idea

2008-06-19T11:41:00.000-05:00

So I was blogging, sound professional, ha? And a friend posted on her blog that she stole an idea from a friend. anyway, Kendra took an old picture and made it into a bulletin board for herself. My daughter, Lindsy, is redoing her room for a more organized grown up look and wanted something for her wall. I loved the idea so i ran with it.. I did mine a little different (thats what us scrappers do) and she loved it. I went for simple ( no nails, screws or redoing anything required) For those of you that know Lindsy's room you will be impressed with the changes. I will post those when we finish if we ever do). Sounds a little like Kendra and her scrap room, Ha? Where are those pictures anyway?

We Got in Another one

2008-06-10T09:15:00.002-05:00

The rain is killing us!! We get rain every Friday night or Saturday it seems like. Just in time to cancel the races. But we snuck one in this week. The pits were wet but we did it. This is an old pic from the track I forgot to charge my battery and Kendra McCracken had to come and save the day by finishing the winners pictures. Thanks Kendra! The outcome.....

Devin first...Kaelie...lost a chain after someone drove up on here tire and snaped it. She was not happy because she was in fourth and started 9th and well on her way to winning. She was lighening fast but I guess it was not meant to be. She is getting better and better every week. Watch out boys the girl is on fire. Come out and watch us sometime..we are at the old Snow Bluff, now known as Countyline Speedway . Saturday nights at 6:30.

Granton Bear

2008-06-02T16:03:00.000-05:00

This little guy is "the Granton Bear". Dawn, at Huckleberry Layne, and I thought it would be a great way to raise some funds for the Bayless family by selling these little guys and giving the family the profits. Check out her website here and you can order one for only $15.00 (plus shipping if you don't live here). Otherwise come on down to the shop and pick one out or order one and you can pick it up at our building (the old Creator Designs building). We have already sold quite a few and hope to help them out more.

Rain and racing

2008-05-27T10:24:00.000-05:00

Well we did get racing in on Friday. Devin placed 1st and Kaelie 2nd at Warsaw. It was a good race however....Saturday it rained and we were postponed til Sunday at CLS. We worked all afternoon to prepare and then started the Heat races and guess what?!?! It rained! I am real tired of all the rain. I thought maybe a great picture of my precious little boy racer would cheer you up..it usually makes me laugh when I look at it. No, he doesn't usually look this way out on the track but at home in the garage when he is bored and feeling goofy this is Devin. Watch out Speed Racer.

Life scrapped

2008-05-21T13:03:00.003-05:00

So I finally had time to sit down and do what I love to do and put together a little book about us crazy people that live here. I have pictures but have not had time to do anything with them. So here is a little view into our crazy busy life thru scrapbooking instead of just a picture.
Let's see...Darin coaching the girls team (that won STATE, by the way) the next is Matt playing floor hockey with my crew in the living room. They had a blast but broke the Dollar General hockey stick so he had to duck tape it together. (WOW duct tape does fix everything!)
Here is Lindsy and her BF Derek at a soccer game being themselves..goofballs. Kaelie smiling with Majesti for the cover of a magazine I am sure. Lookin'g good girls!
Let's not forget Darin in the DANGER RANGER (that thing just won't die!) Lindsy flying a kite (yes I know she is 18 but she still know how to have a good time). Martin staring at me like I am annoying with camera or something. And then Devin "surfng" in our above ground pool (he finds a challenge and fun in anything). Well as the saying goes...Family is like fudge...mostly sweet with a few NUTS. I am off for now to see what stress the kids can put me thru today. I can't complain it keeps me feeling young and energetic (til the sun goes down and I see the bed then I fell 90).

It's that time of year agian!

2008-05-20T08:50:00.000-05:00

Well here we go again....racing season is finally in full swing. The rain has managed to stay away for long enough that the tracks could dry out and we could go out and get in a couple races. We started out the weekend at the new track in Warsaw. Kaelie ended up 1st and Devin 2nd. They kind of got into each other avoiding ruts and Devin threw a chain. Then back at our home track on Saturday , Countyline Speedway, where Kaelie finished 2nd and Devin 3rd. We had a lot of fun and a little spin out on Devin's part but he recouped and came from the back of the pack and down a lap to pull ahead and finish 3rd. Kaelie was literally half a kart length from winning but fought hard and got 2nd. Maybe next time. She is a woman on a mission to win!

Graduation & Districts

2008-05-15T12:59:00.000-05:00

Well many of you know that our oldest graduated on Mother's Day this past weekend. It was a good ceremony with all our family in attendance. It was great to have them all here to celebrate with us.
Lindsy is on the way to attend college now. She is probably going to stay local and live at home since the world has turned so expensive lately. She is a smart kid and will do fine. Mom won't have to cry too many tears except for all the extra laundry that will continue. Oh well what better do I have to do?
The family also got to enjoy watching Kaelie and Lindsy play soccer in their districts this weekend. They won the first two games with all in attendance (yelling and cheering quiet loudly) and lost the championship game last night to Catholic. It was a great game and hard faught! Lindsy is a little bummed in the pictures because of the loss and it was her last HS game played. She intends to keep playing only in fun not too much competition.
And here are the girls...they have become very close over this past year. Being in the HS together has helped form a bond and soccer together was great!! They both played varsity so it was great for them and us trying to rush around to attend games. Well our school year is coming to and end and Lindsy's High School career has been completed. On to a new chapter and many more memories.

Granton Update

2008-05-14T12:39:00.003-05:00

Well I am having trouble locating my forever moving camera cord. For some reason the family keeps hiding it from me. When I find it I will post graduation pictures! Meanwhile I thought I would update those of you that are praying for Granton about his improvements. He seems to be slowly getting a little better. Praise GOD! The poor little thing has a very long way to go, but every small step is welcomed. Please continue to pray and go get tested for bonemarrow ( its is simply a mouth swab). You can register on line and receive a packet to test in the mail FREE! The deadline is the 21st so hurry if you want to help out.

Graduation is here

2008-05-09T12:57:00.003-05:00

Well we are finally there. The day has been getting closer since she first walked through those doors at Bolivar Primary School 13 years ago. How I thought this was so far away I did not need to think much about it, but...listen to your parents when they say enjoy every minute it flies by so fast and they will be gone before you know it. And my advise (not surprising for those that know me) TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES! I know not me I never have a camera now do I?? Well here is one last look at a senior picture of my not so little one. Then the next picture I post will be of a High School Graduate!

Cards at the Shop

2008-05-06T17:44:00.001-05:00

As you may know Huckleberry Layne Candles and Gifts is a store I am helping a friend open. (Yes we are open already)
I have been playing around making handmade cards for the shop. Here are a few samplings. Come by and check us out! Or look us up on the internet at http://www.huckleberrylayne.com/

oops

2008-04-30T18:19:00.000-05:00

sorry don't know what happened to the pics. Here they are.

The Clampets??

2008-04-30T13:29:00.001-05:00

Ok so the DH says we look like the Clampets because I want to hang a clothesline out ( I love love love the fresh air smell). Also in the summer the kids can hang their towels on the line whent they get out of the pool. Ok so... I can pick up the towels off the ground and hang them up on the line. Does it look that bad??
Does this look any better. He complains about my clothes line when we have a beauty of a yard ornament. This poor thing has lived long and mowed hard. We have had many many repairs and lots of trips around the yard but the lawn mower repair man said she is done. So here she sits in our yard looking pretty. And the toys and the pets are slowly disappearing. If you look hard there are two bikes in the grass that are supposed to be ridden but the grass clumps are too high. And I do babysit so before too long small children will be dissappearing too. So yes we have become the Clampet family. If you would like to contact us just send it to the Rednecks out on the top of the hill by the old dead lawn mower out bedhind the clothesline. (that is by the way proper directions for this neck of the woods!)

Please pray for this little boy

2008-04-28T08:27:00.004-05:00

Granton is a very special boy here in Bolivar! He is the grandchild to some very special friends and the son to some friends and very special people. They have been a testament to everyone about faith in God in trying times. Granton is in ICU fighting for his life after being found to have no immune system. He is trying to fight off two very bad infections so that he can undergo a bone marrow transplant. In Bolivar and many other towns people have organized bone marrow testing to help find this little guy a match. And donations to help the family are all around town. Also, donate to Roanld McDonald House as they are helping the family with living arrangements through this. Please keep his family and him in your prayers. And check in on his blog.

Huckleberry Layne

2008-04-24T11:55:00.001-05:00

We have opened our doors!!! Come check us out from 10-6 Monday thru Friday and Saturdays til 1:00. We are still a work in progress and are looking for handmade gifts to sell in our shop. We want to be priced reasonable and keep it homey and homemade as much as possible. We will also be offering some homemade food items for your gifting pleasure too. Please stop by and say hi and take a look around soon.

Come by and buy a bear and $2.00 a bear will go towards the fund raiser for Granton Bayless and his family to help in their medical needs. If you don't need a bear just drop some money in the donation jar and we will get it to the family. Thanks for your support in helping the Bayless family.

We are open

2008-04-24T11:48:00.000-05:00

One last pic

2008-04-20T16:44:00.000-05:00

Wow what to say about these three. They started out in 2nd grade being friends and playing ball together. They have spent many hours together laughing, crying, fighting, and being the best of friends! They are beautiful inside and out. I am very proud to know them and to say that they are part of my family too. Not by birth just by love but just the same. ( ok Lindsy is by birth but you understand:). Love you girls .

More prom pics!

2008-04-20T16:38:00.000-05:00

Here are the girls that met up at the gazebo. And then the whole crew. There are 160 in their class but here are some with dates. They do clean up nicely. I am used to seeing them all in sweats or sports uniforms, so this was a great treat!

Lindsy sporting with her buddies. These guys get together and play cards and goof around. Great group of kids.
Kinzi, Lindsay, Natalie, Cecilee, and Lindsy.

Prom 08 Pictures

2008-04-20T16:34:00.000-05:00

Here is the beautiful Lindsy and Derik. They were at the gazebo that most of the kids met at for pictures before leaving for Branson to have Prom. Doesn't she look pretty?!?!?!

These girls are Ashley Martin, Morgan Stevens and Lindsy. They each chose a dress from the same designer. They posed like they were at the grammy's. All alike yet had their own mark. How lovely they all look.
Back view with a liitle attitude.

Liberator Challenge 08

2008-04-15T13:37:00.000-05:00

So it is that time of year again. Liberator challenge, where you do stupid stuff and dress in your class colors and make a god-awful fool of yourself in front of everyone.

Yes I was involved in the "foolishness" this year. Kaelie's friends chose to have me be their representative for their class. I guess cause they are all bigger than me and I would have to run thru the halls with books and almost pass out from old age. I do play a great game of ping pong though. Kaelie on the other hand volunteered to do this to herself.
She has 10 pounds (not really) of shaving cream on her head and we were behind her throwing goldfish crackers onto her lovely hair. Yes that is my sweet little girl lookin good! We lost that one and the whole evening cause we were Freshman and the Seniors won cause they are seniors and that is just the way the world works. Thanks to Matt Magana for taking the pictures this evening because I had to have pics and was very busy. Besides, that day the girls had soccer games in the snow, sleet, and rain, while 30 degress outside. I can complain about sitting under 3 blankets all I want, they were out there in the 20 mile an hour winds playing. Kaelie in shorts ( she says she can't play in sweats). CRAZY CHILD! Any way we had a fun weekend and now off on our busy week.

Oops!

2008-04-11T12:56:00.001-05:00

Somehow my little girl didn't get loaded. Here she is playing her little heart out.

What a day we have had!!!

2008-04-11T12:53:00.000-05:00

Ok.. so it was nice but cold for the track meet and Devin did very well...he is a fast little man. Must be from all the years of us running after him when he was in trouble and him sprinting away. I guess it all pays off in the end. This was Monday and he came home with 1 first pace medal and 3 second place. Not bad. Tuesday we had a soccer game and it was overcast and getting cloudy as time went on. I managed to snap a few pictures of the girls (Kaelie was at the other end and I didnt quite get her focused right.) Anyway right before half ....
This rolled in. We had a 30 minute delay for lightening and I had to take a kid home cause of the lightening and Devin snapped these out the truck window over by the hospital. The clouds were really spooky. Kinda cool though. It passed in 30 minutes without a drop of rain and the game went on. We won by the way. Yea it all worked out good game, a win, and great pics!

2008-04-01T13:08:00.000-05:00

Ok so you know I have been working on the new business with a friend. We are getting there. Wow, it is alot of work to open up! Here is a quick view of our first arrangement. Looks kinda cool, Ha? (my kids hate it when I use that word!) The chips won't stay on the chair when we open either.

This is one of the display cabinets with some of her "goodies" in it. We have been busy making soaps, bears, candles, potpourri, room sprays, and some other things but my brain is tired and cannot think right now.

This is Dreamweaver and Betty the bears. They are hand dipped in wax and you use them as room fresheners. Aren't they adorable! Can't wait till we have everyone shopping and putting in requests. Email me or call me if you have any ideas. Oh yea, we will have fudge and candies from the Omish too!!! I am going to weigh 500 pounds soon (it is way to close to Sonic ). We are in the old Creator Designs building so stop by for a preview and give us some ideas. Or we can sneak you a sale on the sly.

A work in progress

2008-03-24T14:58:00.000-05:00

Ok so we decided to lay the flooring that we have in the living room in our bedroom too. When we pulled up the old carpet to our dismay we found...yuck!! The tub had leaked and we had to cut a hole (that is where Gary is) in the floor. It was pretty cool to see under the house from your bedroom though. So after replacing the yuck spot we moved on to the flooring. We (the wise ones) decided that we probably had enough flooring left over from doing our living room and went forward with our mission. Guess what?!?!? We are one row short!!! Figures . Now we are on a mission to find one more box of flooring (since the store we got it from is out) to be able to finish the project. Oh what a tangled web we weave. Stay tuned for the continuing saga of our lives. And a picture of the finished project.

They did it!!

2008-03-20T15:25:00.002-05:00

Well as you may already know, they won!!!!! I have been soooooo busy that I forgot to post anything and have not even been on he computer since we got back! The team had a Pep Assembly the Sunday we got back and I have included a few pictures from them goofing around.
This is the seniors at their best! They are really close and a goofy bunch.
Again I say GOOFY!!! We wanted to fet a pictures with the senior girls and said to do something...they looked at each other and dove under the table. Great minds think alike I guess.
And here is the special one. Dad and daughter sharing the limelight and the the !st place trophy. They still haven't come down from the high yet! Sorry it took so long I have been helping a friend open a business. will post something soon on that and you can come by and check us out. There is a website though... www.huckleberrylayne.com
She is at the old creator designs building...we are in the process of getting it together but welcome you to come by.

Prom Dresses

2008-03-05T10:15:00.000-06:00

Ok so I was looking for a prom dress for Lindsy. She is a senior and of course has to have the greatest dress ever!!! I found these and thought I might run them by her and see what she thinks. What do you think?? They are economical, original, and no one else will have the same one on on her special night. You think she will like them? Give me your thoughts and let me know which one she should try out. I think I could even go to the "special party store " instead of Wal-mart and get the fancier balloons and splurge a little.

They are going to STATE!!!!

2008-03-02T19:03:00.003-06:00

Well.....they did it!! On Thursday after lots of celebrating in school the girls are on their way to STATE!!!
Here is a shot of the final score from across the gym. The girls have fought hard and played great and it hopefully will all pay off on Friday then Saturday next weekend when they play for the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! Good Luck girls do it this year and go get FIRST!

WE WIN DISTRICTS!!!!

2008-02-26T13:30:00.002-06:00

Well it has been a long road and only lost 2 this year but 2 more games and we are going to STATE! The girls (and the coaches) have worked hard to get here and it paid off Saturday when they won the District title. The Bolivar boys team won on Friday night (1st time in amost 50 years)to get the district title also, and we are both headed to Sedalia on Wednesday. Wish us luck!!!! GO LIBERATORS!

Wow what a week!

2008-02-20T10:02:00.004-06:00

Ok so to start my oldest, Lindsy showed me her Valentines present from Derik. Yes she got a diamond. It is a promise ring (kinda big for that, hope thats all it is)! She was excited and mom gives up she is old enogh to make her own decisions I guess. Love her even if she isn't my little girl anymore. Ok so we end the week last week with this surprise then......

Kaelie moves the truck into the side parking area (by the trailers) and it gets stuck so my dear husband decides to drive thru the yard after ice, snow and rain for a whole week has soaked into the ground. Well guess what?!?!...he got stuck and stuck good. So we call Gary and he comes up in his big 4 wheel drive and pulls right in behind the stuck one and SINKS right down into the yard!! He then proceeds to gun it over and over , mind you I am standing right behind his truck waiting for instructions on what to do, anyway.. We now could hold a dirt race in our backyard. No not for our Karts the ruts are too deep. Thank goodness he has a tractor to and can come flatten it out when it dries up some. Needless to say the cute little blue 2 wheel drive truck sat there for a couple days and another friend with a cattle truck and a 40 foot chain pulled us out from closer to the driveway where it was not so wet. Mark...what do you think of what we have done with the yard?? Want us to come landscape yours???
Muddin' anybody???

We did have our first round of districts last night and pulled out a big win. Tommorrow night though will be tough we match up against the one team that has beat us this year,Marshfield. Wish us luck!

This is SOOO Funny!

2008-02-18T14:09:00.002-06:00

OMG this has to be the funniest web show ever. If you are a mom please check this out!! I laughed so hard on some that I cried. And we all know how much we need a good laugh (at someone elses expense that is). Click on the title and it will take you to the link.

Senior Night

2008-02-14T13:55:00.006-06:00

Last night was Senior night at our last home basketball game. Wimper, wimper... Yes I am getting old. My beautiful daughter will be leaving us soon for bigger and better things. I asked someone to take some pictures for me. They were a little dark and unfocused but thats ok..we still have the memory. ( and something else for me to scrap!) Oh yea they won too (some people and their priorities want to know the game turns out too not just how good the girls looked).Jeeze.

Sled or No Sled You Pick

2008-02-13T11:29:00.005-06:00

Ok so here is the crew.. Matt Devin, and Kaelie. They got out the sled and tied it to the back of the four-wheeler. Ok that does not sound too out of the ordinary, right? They jumped on the sled and got pulled around and had a great ol time.

Lindsy even got in on the fun. Notice..
SAFETY first. They did put on the helmets in case of a killer ground hog or something. Then a few days later...

We now had snow but they opted to not use the sled but body sled. I looked out the back window and Devin goes flying by on his BACK!! They simply hung on to rope and layed out on their back (and which ever way they rolled) and got pulled in the snow. Now tell me why would you use a sled with no snow but not use it with snow??? If you can figure out my children please let me know. I guess this is just another day in my crazy busy life.

NUTS!!!

2008-02-12T19:50:00.001-06:00

What in God's name kinda of men are these??? NUTS I tell ya!!!! Darin is our new "Rockband" singer for their group called Archerpaloosa. Devin on the other hand was just being Devin. I made a little mini book of our daily insane lives with a bunch of pictures of things throughout the year.

I found a saying that is fitting to my family:
Family is like Fudge
Mostly sweet, with a few nuts!
Have a great day

Lucas Indoor Nationals

2008-02-12T19:34:00.001-06:00

Well I am slow on the draw as usual but I will get it online. Devin and Kaelie raced last weekend at the Lucas Winter Nationals. It was a great time (just very gassy)! Devin took first and Kaelie came in second. She also raced good enough that she is getting an airbrushing job done by one of Devins sponsors! He watched her race and decided if she is going to race with the big boys she needs to look good! She is very excited. When it gets done I will let everyone see in on the view.

Kaelie takes this racing very seriously!!! Here she is getting ready to go out on the track and mom is annoying her with the camera. Can you see the "look" on her face??

Here is the start of the race and all I could get was the two of them in the picture. They won alot of prizes from Burris and QRC. (All stuff for their karts) so mom and dad dont have to buy the things!!!YEA!

Craft pretties

2008-02-08T09:41:00.002-06:00

My mom brought these little pretties. Aren't they awesome??? They are wine bottle lights. She knows that we are a little bit obsessed with racing so she made Darin and Kaelie a Jeff Gordon bottle and Kara lee a Tony Stewart. I would like to know where her daughters racer is??? I can feel the love. She does sell these if anyone is interested.
I am slowly try to get my SCRAPCAVE decorated and organized, only for the 300th time. I have hit all the flea markets in town and also the thrift stores and found all these awesome little jars.They were a steal at .25-.50 each! I tend to not use it if I can't see it.

I found two baskets like this at the local thrift store for only $1.50 each!!! This one sits in the kitchen with all my mini albums in it. I had hit Margie Pearls and gotten 75 yards of assorted ribbons and didn't know what to do with them. I stopped by and found this and now I dig like it's Christmas morning. Some people are very organized with ribbon but I pull it all out and play with it and then drop it back in. I have to have a little fun in my life.

I entered my first contest!

2008-01-29T11:26:00.001-06:00

I entered my first contest this week. The site is Scrappin the Music. I love this site. I did not win but got a great LO done and had funThe theme was the song "BLESSED". I am really getting into the scrap sites on line. I am on 2 Peas and SIStv. It is fun to get on and get ideas and talk to people with the same interests. My family just doesn't understand my obsession.
This weekend will be a busy one. My kids are in the Lucas Oilk Spring Nationals in Springfield. I am real excited! Have to go change diapers and make lunch.

2007-11-01T10:05:00.000-05:00

Check out my Slide Show!

2007-10-31T11:23:00.001-05:00

2007-10-29T10:33:00.001-05:00

Here is the latest venture in our busy lives....The Boogieman Race. It turned out to be a beautiful day and 109 karts showed up. We raced from about 4:00 til about midnight and had a blast!! Darin's mom (Sharon) drove down from Indiana to watch her first race. She was a little freaked out but I think had a good time anyway. Devin ended up winning and Kaelie took 4th. His trophy is a big as a 2 year old.

We took some pictures of Devin with all his winning trophies and his Burris jacket for the last two years. He has a website if you would like to keep up with him. Devinarcherracing.com I cant find the pictures I took of kaelie with her winninng trophies but will and will give her her veryon post. Her dad is working on her website. You can also keep up with them by visiting their home track.
countylinespeedway.com

2007-10-02T09:24:00.001-05:00

Well here are the latest pictures...Kaelie and Lindsy's
volleyball buddy pictures, Devin's 7th grade football, Kaelie's win Saturday night, and one of Lindsy's senior pictures.

Kaelie finally won a points race on Saturday night out at County Line Speedway!!!! She was exstatic!!!! Devin came in third that night, but fought hard with Kelby Taylor the whole way! It was a heck of a race. It was the last points race of the season and Devin rapped it up by winning 1st place in points and Kaelie and Trey Fierce I think tied for 2nd. Now one more big race (Oct 13, the Boogieman Race) and we will be done for a while. We will only have football,volleyball,basketball, and track. WOW a break !!! We have football and Volleyball tonight so I will update again tomorrow. Have a great day all!!

The Latest Football game

2007-09-27T12:23:00.002-05:00

Ok..on Tuesday we had the last home football game. Yes of course we had to have some rain so I did not take my camera. I do however have a ton of pictures from the last game so I included one of them. As you can see Devin is still a ham! The team is now
1-1-1. They pulled it out with a 28-0 finish and Devin did score one of the touchdowns!!!!!YEA.
He loves football and I guess is pretty good at it too. He is growing up way too fast but is still my little boy. Tomorrow I will up date you on the girls volleyball. They play at home tonight so I will update in the morning. They did play on Tuesday also but it was away so we did not make it. God knows with the price of gas who can afford to travel anywhere. Kaelie's team lost but fought hard and Lindsy's team won ! YEA .
I cant figure out how to add another picture (brain dead when it comes to computers I guess) so I will take some more and add some in the morning. Love too hear from all of you leave comments,please!

Sports Galore

2007-09-25T10:52:00.000-05:00

This is just a little peek into our life. Yes we go non stop all week long. Wouldn't know how else to live though.

Kaelie and Lindsy are in the middle of volleyball right now and have 2-3 games a week. They are doing well this year not sure of the record though...I would have to remember something if I could recite that! God knows my brain doesn't retain anything for more than 5 seconds! Just for your info..Kaelie is a freshman and Lindsy is a senior. OMG I am OLD!

Devin is in the 7th grade and is playing football right now. He I think plays running back and something else ( I have a football block in my brain). One day I will catch on to football and positions. i just cheer and yell real loud when he ( or anyone on his team) has the ball and is running. I do miss alot of all the kids games looking through my camera lens. But that way we can all remember the times that fly by so fast. I do know Devin team is 1-1-0. Only 2 games not too hard to remember!