Last Night's Sky

Last night the sky was really pretty and very unique. I took some pics from the back and a little later Adri called me out to look at the front. There was a line dividing the sky. I took the pic but it just looks like two tones of blue so I am not including it but I stayed out there a while and I like the final pic. The one with clouds is from the back and the ray look is in the front.

A New Toy

I bought a Cricut personnal cutter. The instructions say to allow 30-60 minutes to familiarize yourself with it. Well, any one that has used a keyboard can do it in 30 seconds. Now the hard part is figuring out the right pressure, depth and speed you need for the type of paper you are using. I ripped a bit of paper before I got the hang of it, guess that is where the 30-60 minutes comes in. Here are 2 examples of the letters I made using it. It has 6 different styles of fonts (comes with 1 and I bought 1) and also 6 shape cartridges. I do not have any of those. for EPCOT I used the font it came with, it's called George and for Disney I used the Jasmine font. I also like the way it looks to use the remaining part after the letters are out. It makes letters from 1 inch up to 5. EPCOT is 2 1/2 inches.

Scrapping

What have I been up to lately? Hmmmmm.... Well I have been doing dishes, laundry, keeping the dog yard mowed, fixing dinner, oh and scrapping. Mainly scrapping. I had 780 photos developed last Sunday (yes, 780!!) and I started in on Sarah's visit. Here are a few of my favorite pages. On the small world page I am looking for gold music notes (2 stores so far and no notes). I decided not to add faces to the small world kids. I tried a few different ones and decided I liked them better as no faces. I am enjoying having baby pages to scrap! Thanks again to Sarah and Brent for letting me share in their vacation!
I took Ramsey to the vet for a full cat work up. He was tested for kitty leukemia and aids, got dewormed, had 2 shots and a squirt of flea prevention. He came home a very lethargic cat and slept the better part of that day and the next. He is back to his loving, getting under your feet self. The other night Adri left his toys out in the garage (he is sleeping in the garage at night) and one is this feather thing. Well lets just say the feathers were all over the place. The dogs still want to lunge at him. I am not sure how to acclimate them to each other. I guess it will be a slow process.

Pictures of Ramsey

Here he is as sweet as can be!

Ramsey

We updated our virus protection and ever since I get "error on page" when ever I try to upload a picture-it is making me mad! I want to post some pictures of Ramsey. He is a white, tailless cat that showed up last Saturday and has stayed. We are not really planning on keeping him because there are allergies and we can't let him inside but he is a very nice cat. The dogs are too pushy around him so he avoids them but they sure spend a lot of time sitting by the front door hoping we will open it. Basil sniffs so loudly at the crack in the door it is hilarious. Ramsey arrived very thin and a little beat up. Adri was calling him Scabbers but Michael was threatening bodily harm if we named him that. Rick thought Casper would be a good name and then later said Tripper because he walks in between your legs but I like Ramsey. We have been feeding him and he is still thin. Just a lean kind of cat. I took him to the vet to see if he had a chip and he does not. The vet says he is no more than two probably younger. He is fixed so he was someone's cat. We have asked around and no one knows of a white tailless cat. I just wish the photos would come up!

More Firsts

I was so happy to see the comments from Adri's firsts I thought you might enjoy more firsts of my kiddos. Wow, Joe even commented! Now if I could just get my mom to (The "mom said" comments are actually my friend Sarah's mom).
First up we have Joe on his first day of pre school. He is 4 1/2 and we lived right across the street from the preschool. We would walk there unless it was raining. It was at Abiding Savior Lutheran Church which we also attended. He loved the idea of being big and in school and went like a trooper.

This is his first day of Kindergarten. This was a very happy day for him because he got to ride the school bus home! The bus stop was right outside our door and he had been watching all the kids get on and off the bus all last year and could hardly wait until it was his turn.

Jason started pre school when he had just turned 3. He went 2 mornings a week. His teacher had to hold him the first morning because he did not want to stay. He did fine and enjoyed his time there.

This is Jason's first day of Kindergarten. He had the same teacher as Joe. She said if she didn't know I was the mom of both boys she would never have guessed they were related despite them having the same last name! Jason did not have to stay at school the first day. We were in the middle of a heat wave and there was no air conditioning in the classroom so after the meet and greet we took our kids home. This only applied to the Kindergartners for some reason.

Michael also started preschool when he was 3 (3 1/2). He did not want his picture taken alone and wanted Adri to be in it with him. He wanted to be where ever Adri was all the time. Do you 2 remember those days?

For some unknown reason Michael's first day of Kindergarten picture is missing from the photo album. Guess I will be hunting through negatives to find that one! This picture is around the first of the school year so you can see what he looked like. He had the same Kindergarten teacher as Adri but I think he liked the afternoon teacher better. He would talk to her at recess and for years after she would call him "Keyman". He had quite a collection of keys back then.

Joe, your comment cracked me up-still chuckling about it. It is definitely only you, those van windows look pristine! Actually it is morning dew on them.

First Day of School

This is Adrianna back in 1987 on her first day of preschool (~4 1/2). We got to the school (Miss Lu was her teacher) and everything was fine. When I walked out the door she started crying and when I got to the van I could hear her screaming "I WANT MY MOOMMMY". I sat in the van crying. I worried all morning about how she was doing. When I picked her up I was happy to see a smiling little girl. We talked about why she had cried and if she would ever need to do that again. She said "no, now I know what it is like". This is Adrianna on her first day of kindergarten. No crying or screaming on this day. She was already very familiar with the school (with her 2 older brothers being there) and already knew her teacher Mrs. Duft. Don't you wish people would watch their kids when you are taking a picture of your child! Oh wait, that is her little brother!
Finally we have Adrianna on her first day of 5th grade....teaching that is. She thinks I am ridiculous and maybe I am but I am very proud of my little girl. I am proud of the self confident, self assured young lady she has become and I know she will be a fantastic teacher. I love you Adri!

Pineapple anyone?

This week end we had 8 pineapple ripen. We wait until they are ready to fall off the plant before we pick them (sometimes they come off on their own). I was surprised to see there were 5 more out in the garage as Rick had already brought in 3. He said he wanted to take a picture of all 8 lined up. I looked at him and he was like "what?" Well I already cut one up for dinner. After dinner he lined them ALL up any way. If you like pineapple you would love fresh ones!

The Princesses

First we have the littlest Princess, Audrey, looking adoringly at her mommy. They are standing next to Minnie Mouse's prize winning quilt. I was disappointed that Minie was not in her house or any where around that day. (I think Sarah planned it that way-Minnie is not her favorite) We went to "the big tent" and stood in line for "The Princesses". Of course this is the biggest line and you go around corners so you are clueless as to how enormous it is! There were a few times we were ready to give up and skip it and then Audrey would be a sweetie and we would decide to stick it out a little longer. If the line moved at a steady pace it might have been better but once we were in the room we understood how it worked and why it would stop for so long. We wanted our time with them just like every one else and they do not rush you at all. That part was very nice. I was highly unimpressed with the lighting. If you have looked on photopass you will see even the Disney photographers have a hard time getting a good pic with those backdrops! (I love that whole phoro pass deal. The pics aren't cheap but you can share them with others for a month and by then you have had your pics developed so every one is happy)Sleeping Beauty was the first Princess we met. She gave Audrey a big kiss on her forehead. Sarah's face was priceless. She did not want that kiss mark in all the pictures! I rubbed it out and we went on to meet Cinderella. I think Audrey liked her the best. She also kissed her, but on the cheek. We left that one. Snow White was a dud in my opinion. Must have been time for a break! They had 2 other lines you could stand in for different characters and Brent had wanted one with Goofy and his Dirt Wheels magazine but we felt one long line was enough for any baby to have to endure (not too mention mommies and aunts!) I look forward to the day they can come back and we can do it all again with a little girl who is all excited about meeting the Princesses! (please not in the summer, it is just too ridiculously hot)

Pics from Gatorland

This will be the 4th time I have tried to post pics from Gatorland. each time the blog loves the pics so much it multiplies them so it looks like I am an idiot and putting in the same pic up to 5 times! If it does it again you will have to bear with it, I am posting! I enjoy going to gatorland with people that have never been. They have sooo many gators there and many are huge! They say we have over 1 million in the wild out here! Audrey was more interested in the birds. Wild birds come and nest there and many are opportunistic trying to grab the hot dogs they sell to throw to the gators. I have known a wild bird to be captured there every so often (by an opportunistic gator!).
Here we have Sarah and Audrey in the jaws of death. Don't worry, Audrey has once again mastered the wild beast!

A nice surprise

Yesterday I received a very nice surprise at my door. Sarah, Audrey and Brent sent me some beautiful flowers! It was so not necessary but much appreciated. I feel like I should be thanking them for giving me such an enjoyable week! Each day when we would meet Audrey would just light up when she saw me. That was thanks enough! If you had been there seeing the hugs I got before they left it would leave you with no doubt that I was well thanked already. Thank you Brent, Sarah and Audrey. love to you all.