another year older but better

Well, yesterday was my man's birthday. He is a godly man, an awesome dad and the best husband ever, for me least. And he still has it 'goin' on'. Last weekend he was taking pictures at Sammy's horse show and he got the digits from a few ladies. The wanted him to take pictures of their kids too. However, one hung around awhile asking questions about the camera and lens. To that lady, I say, 'I'm on to you' and I am not arfraid to break bad like Beyonce does in the movie Obsessed. Just kidding... a little.

Anyway... happy birthday man... I love you. You're the best! And I don't tell you that enough.


Here's a shout out to my girl Rindy. Her birthday was yesterday too. Below is a picture from a couple of years ago. She has long hair here. She is the only person I know that can rock so many different hairstyles long, short and none. Happy birthday to a faith-filled, strong and beautiful woman.

Have a happy day.
Sabrina

What 11???? Where did the time go?

I can't believe my baby girl is 11.

Didn't she just turn 5?

But it was her weekend. Friday, I pulled her out of school early and we went on a long trail ride. Her Grand-daddy had promised to ride with her and that was her gift. It was a beautiful day. She had a great time and even got to do a couple of jumps out in the woods.

When we got home she had a gift waiting for her from her aunt, uncle and cousins in Missisippi. A pack of cool girly stuff. She loved it.



Saturday was more horses. She was in a horse show and won 3 first place and grand champion of her set of classes. What a great birthday surprise.

And on Sunday, her actual birthday she requested lunch at the Golden Colon, I mean Golden Corral. They said happy birthday to her over the speaker system. We finished off the birthday weekend with some ice cream birthday cake.

I am very proud of my baby girl. She is growing up into a beautiful person. She has a heart of gold and makes everyone smile. Happy Birthday Peanut. I love you.

Have a happy day.
Sabrina

Dog Tired

We had a busy weekend. Had the 5th grade science fair on Friday. (I am so over book reports and projects. Do you have to do book reports and science fair projects if you homeschool?) Sammy's project was 'can you get gas from garbage'. So we had beans in sandwich bags in varying stages of decay all around the house. Although beans produce gas in the human body they did not produce gas in the sandwich bags.

The dog was very helpful in assembling this project. As you can see she was the one cutting paper with the paper cutter. I homeschooled my dog. But not the kids. I'm too lazy to homeschool. Oh, and unorganized. But I wish I could so I wouldn't have to wake up and make lunches. That's how lazy I am.




Charlie had 2 lacrosse games this weekend. He scored 5 goals in one game. Way to go dude! He is the one in blue jumping up the catch the ball. His coach started calling him 'Take charge Charlie'. Kind of like Charles in Charge... remember that show with Chachi or Scott Baio?

Sammy and I painted the front door. We got our second notice from the HOA, so we had to get off our butts and do something. Another fine example of my laziness. It really wasn't that bad in my opinion, just some scratches from wreaths and the dog. But it looks better now.

Oh and I made pinto beans and corn bread from Pioneer Woman's site and they were awesome. I had made the steak sandwich earlier in the week and that was a huge hit for everyone too. I would have taken pictures but you can go to her site and get the recipes and there is no competing with her pictures.

Well now that I typed it out it doesn't seem like much but I did do laundry and clean the house too. I'm tired and will try to come up with more interesting stuff.

Have a happy day.
Sabrina

Friday Fill Ins

Friday Fill Ins...thanks Janet
1. Join me in _____. Friday fill ins

2. Put a little _____ in your day! laughter

3. Happiness is _____. a hug from my man

4. _____ and confused. Tired

5. I'm waiting for _____. Summer

6. _____ is hard to resist. Chocolate

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _____, tomorrow my plans include _____ and Sunday, I want to _____! sleep, shuttling kids here and there, go out for lunch


Have a happy day.
Sabrina

Rainy day blahs

Well, first a shout out to my man for the new header picture. How cool is that? He surprised me. A good one, though. However, take this as a warning when you give your husband access to your blog, your in for surprises. Oh on that note... Miz Booshay (Quiet Life) commented on the man's post! She also writes for Pioneer Woman in the photograph section. Again... how cool is that!

Today is a cold rainy day and all I want to do is... skip work, sit in side with a blanket and read. But I won't.


Not the best picture but I hope you get the idea.

Well, I have to scurry off to work now. Pre-schoolers need to be corralled. It is like herding cats.

Have a happy day.
Sabrina

My turn! – The new camera

Sabrina and I have always liked our old camera (Canon A95) until we started seeing the type of quality our friend’s pictures were. He has a Canon D40 and all his photos were so good. Almost his entire collection of photos look like a professional took them. His camera is a previous version of ours and he has larger lenses (lens envy is not a good thing). I really like our new camera.

The new camera: Canon EOS Rebel XS

Note: I have to give a shout out to Pioneer Woman for her great picture taking too. Sabrina and I are very envious of her skills. She makes everything on her blog seems so nice and crisp. She also gives advice for the novice... yeay!

So we started shooting photos right after we got the camera. But to my dismay, it’s not the camera that takes good pictures but the person taking them. We have tried to take a couple of pictures on our own and figured out that within time, our pictures will get better. I have read about a ¼ of the manual so far and it does help (See, guys do read the manual!!). I just wanted to show you some of our work.

Here the kids ham it up before getting on the bus for Sabrina as she plays with the camera.

I think they look great.

Here I tried to capture color and texture. I am going to get this printed out and made into a poster for our office.

Here is a close up picture of a close up portrait.

Here is a close up with a dulled out back ground.

We have our own cherry blossoms in the front yard.

And of course the typical portrait

I tried some action shots with little success. It probably some crazy setting I need to do.
Back to the manual. (Yuck)

I know, I know. With some time our photos will get better. Hopefully you will see some improvement in later blogs. Maybe next year they will bring out one that does all to work for me. Ah the future…

The Man

Arts & Crafts

During our week of recuperating I thought crafting would be fun. I love monograms, so I thought we would try stencils. Here is some of our work. Not bad considering we started these at 3 in the morning. The medications got our sleep all jacked up.

Each kid had their choice of paper. I just spray painted some old frames to match. In the case of Sammy's I also spray painted an old mat to match.


I also arranged some flowers for my man to take to some friends when we were invited to dessert however, I couldn't go because the kids were not up to it. Here they are.

He forgot to take them. Oh well, I tried. So it became our Easter bouquet. Yippee for us.
Hope y'all had a great Easter.

Have a happy day
Sabrina

Road Trip! ... well almost.

I thought the kids had improved enough to go see Grandmother and Grand-daddy. I even asked them if they wanted to go. I got the thumbs up. I spent all morning packing for me and the kids. Got the car packed. Snacks and drinks loaded up. Everybody have their pillow and blanket? Yep. Off we go. Yippee... spring break road trippin'.

We got 20 minutes down the road...

Sammy felt ill and when I rolled down the windows, she said the outside smelled. Why yes sweet child, that would be the smell of fresh air. Then she started crying. "I want to go home", she said. All while watching 'Happy Feet'. Her feet were not so happy.

Charlie said, "I don't think this is such a good idea". You're right buddy. We turned around and came back home. So, we didn't take so much of a road trip, more like a field trip.

Home is good. We are more happy being miserable at home.

Have a happy day.
Sabrina

Spring Break '09.... medical spa style

We kicked off Spring Break '09 a little early. I took the kids out of school a couple of days early to go on a medical retreat. I figure all the Hollywood types check into rehab spas, so my kids should be livin' large too. Here they are ready to check in.


Don't they look happy? A little excited and a little nervous at the same time. Like most kids about to go away for camp. This is how celebrities look before going onto Celebrity Rehab. I'm just kidding they were about to get their tonsils and adenoids removed and Charlie was also having some procedure done to his sinuses.














They both had a stuffed animal waiting for them on their beds. That was The High Point of the day. Oh, and the warmed blankets. The kids were even happy with the socks. Charlie asked if they got to keep them. That's my kids always lookin' for what's included in the package deal.

First Charlie was wheeled off to surgery and Samantha was able to watch 101 Dalmatians while she waited. Charlie was back out in under an hour. Wow, that was quick...

Here he is in recovery. When he first came out of the anesthesia, he was not himself. He was crazy escape boy. They called me over to help get him calmed down. When I got there his gown was half off, he had torn off his socks and the monitor on his foot and was using the sides of the bed to claw his way out. It was like a wild animal being captured. I loved on him and got him to lay back down. But as soon as I let go he tried to get away again. I really don't think he knew exactly who I was. Maybe somewhere deep inside his brain he knew but not at the moment. It reminded me of Alzheimer's patients. Regardless, we got him half awake and then they medicated him again so he could sleep. The second time he woke up he was much better. The nurses had said this happens sometimes. Weird.


Samantha, on the other hand, came out of her stupor mellow as can be. She half opened her eyes and asked if they were done. I said yes then she closed her eyes again. She half woke up again and asked if the procedure was done. When I told her it was she asked for five more minutes of sleep. She asked for five more minutes about 5 times. The nurse laughed and said she was a true pre-teen. Sammy went through a cup of ice chips, water and two popsicles in record time.

At home we watched Twilight, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, and Marley and Me. And alot of Nickelodeon. Charlie actually sat through all of Nick's original movie Spectacular with me. Who am I kidding? He was in a altered state, I have no excuse why I sat thru it. Except maybe I was reliving my After School Special days. Using my ailing son as an excuse... how pathetic. Anyhow, now when I ask Charlie how he feels, he'll say "spectacular" and use is 'jazz hands'. I need to get a picture of that.

Sammy recovered pretty quickly and we took her off the prescribed pain medication after 2 days. Charlie did not bounce back so quickly. Not until day 4 did he move to plain Tylenol. Only then was he able to get a substantial amount food and water down. And by that, I mean a full 8ounces of water and some chicken mashed up. Poor guy. Here they are the day after the procedure. You can see that Sammy is feeling better than Charlie.











I


I was about to write that they have rounded the proverbial corner and will be getting back to normal soon but.... they both just woke up crying. Maybe I'll slip 'em the Tylenol with codeine to get them through the night. It breaks my heart when they wake up crying.

I'll keep you posted.

Have a happy day.
Sabrina