Thanksgiving vaction

I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving and you all didn't eat to much (hehe wishful thinking). My family and I traveled from our little home in Mississippi to the children's grandparents house in Beaumont, TX and feasted with some of the best people on earth. I have never seen so much food in all my life and it was all good!! You guys know I'm not going to turn down good food no matter what.

We left on Wednesday early in the morning and drove straight thru 8 hours across some bridges that made my knuckles turn white because they were so high up in the air. Most bridges don't bother me but this one scared the you know what out of me. We arrived there about 3:00 Wednesday afternoon ready to eat. Jessie had made her homemade burritos and boy they were good. Then of course Thursday was thanksgiving. Besides all the food the wine was flowing like a river around there. It was really warm out like almost 80 degrees and the wine and the heat wasn't mixing with me really well so I went in the house and cooled off watching a really cool program. Later after it had cooled off outside I went back out and joined everyone again talking and drinking more wine. By this time a couple of others showed up, Jessie's niece and her children, who by the way I have heard about since I was pregnant with Cody. I finally got to meet her after all these years. She is so sweet. So, Jessie's sisters and niece and myself all sat around and drank wine. We laughed and giggled so much that we all hurt. I haven't had that much fun in a long while.
Friday we went to the mall and later that evening we went out to eat together. Saturday morning was the day that we were suppose to drive back home, so I get all the kids up and start taking showers and getting everything together. I look up and I have my kids standing around me crying begging me to talk to daddy about staying another day. They didn't want to leave their grandpa so then they got me to crying along with them. I talked to Gary and we decided to stay another day. I am very glad we did. Gary decided to make crab burgers for everyone so Jessie and I went to the local grocery store. This was the biggest grocery store I have ever been in so big in fact that Gary and I went back just to look around and see what we could see.
Gary cooked the crab burgers and Grandpa Billy cooked the JoJo fries and we all sat down and ate together. Sunday it was time to go home and the tears started up again. The kids and I could barely get thru hugging Grandpa and Grandma. We all had such a good time and really love them both.
Billy is the only link that the kids have to their real fathers side of the family. Their real dad has a drug problem and lives on the street. The only time they see him is if we are riding down the street and hes out walking or panhandling. Yes I know this is sad but he chose his path. I think it is very important that the kids have a relationship with their grandfather to know about their background. And Billy is the only grandfather that they have ever known.
We had a great time and look forward to the time that we can go again, hopefully sometime in the Spring.

Happy Birthday Cody

Today is my oldest childs 16th birthday. I can not believe that that much time has gone by already. It seems like yesterday that I had him and he was just a little baby in my arms. Cody has had his ups and downs but he is turning out to be a fine young man. I have boohoo'd all evening because I know in a couple of years that he will be going to college, getting married and having children of his own. Where the heck has the time gone.

Cody at 3 weeks old

Cody at 15 1/2.

Happy Birthday Cody I love you!!!!

Finished

I finished the baby blanket that I made using Deneen's pattern. I added a bit of a edge to it and I think it turned out pretty well but am anxious to hear Deneen's opinion.

Day 8

I know what the heck is day 8? Well today is day 8, the eighth day that I have been doing weight watchers again. I'm attempting to do it on my own because I just can't afford to go back to the meetings right now. So far so good. I was about starving by the time I got home this evening. Tori was trying out for another band at church and we didn't get finished to around 8pm then I drove her and her friend to the friends house for the night, (no school tomorrow for election day, makes no sense to me but thats what they do down here). I did good, for all the hunger pains that I was feeling I didn't stop at any of the fast food places that surround the area. One would think that since I was able to stop smoking with minimal effort that loosing some weight wouldn't be that hard. But it is.

I told you guys a couple of days ago that I would post some pictures of the Cairo that sunk during the Civil war. So here ya go:

The outer view.

Inside the Cairo

A view of the cannons facing the battleground.

I told you guys that I would post a couple of pictures of Vicksburg Military Park so here is a few.

As you can tell we had a beautiful day there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

This is the entrance to the park. A very impressive site upon entering.

This is the monument to the Illinois troops. The park was celebrating it's 100th anniversary and had re-en actors there. They fired off a cannon that about scared the crap out of us, the ground rocked. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see it because we were around the corner at the battlefield.

A picture of one of the monument from across one of the fields.

This the monument of Grant. It is positioned way up on a hill looking down on the road.

These are just a few I will post more tomorrow. I have some really good ones of one of the iron clad boats that carried cannons. It's called the Cairo.

Today has been the longest day in court I have ever sat thru. Not so much the hours of court but the fact that it has been a cluster f***. From the moment we stepped in the door of the court room anything that could go wrong did. To the point one of the defendants threw up all over the third and fourth rows of the court room. The paramedics got called in and checked him out. The worst of it is this happened around 1:30 and it is now after 3:00 and no one has come to clean it up. This is stupid. This guy probably has a stomach flu and now everyone in the court room has come down with it too. We probably will not get out of court till 6 or 7 tonight and Shelby has soccer practice. That reminds me I need to call Gary and see if he can take him tonight. I won't be out of here to do it. Last night was Cody's last football practice for the season till spring and Tori's soccer is only on Saturdays and Tuesdays weather permitting. I am so glad that it is slowing down some, it is time for a break.

I want to stay home and knit, crochet or play on my computer, I'm tired of running kids all over the state for right now. I haven't gotten any Christmas projects done, last year at this time I had about all of them done. I'm still working on the baby blanket of Deneen's design and hope to finish it soon. Deneen it is turning out so very cute!! It would be so cute with the baby pompadour yarn also. The whole time I have been working on this I was wishing that I had that type of yarn. I think I am going to make another one for "in case" and I'm going to use that type.
*As of the time I left work 6:00pm it still hadn't been cleaned up, talk about bio hazard*

Who'd a thunk it....

I am from the South, born and bred Southern belle, the only good reason I can think that I would have a Midland accent would be that I was a vocal major who had to learn diction, enunciation and pronunciation correctly. I love these quizzes they are fun. Thanks Deneen for finding this one.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The Inland North
The South
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Great Big Thank You

A great big thank you to Kari for designing my blog for me. It is beautiful and I love it. She does wonderful work!!

Back from Vicksburg

Holy cow we had a great time. The girl and her mom that we roomed with were a hoot and we all enjoyed our time. Friday we arrived at the hotel around 3:30pm so we checked in and freshed up a bit. We all decided to go downtown and do some window shopping. The downtown area is sooo cute. Lots of old shops and resturants with the Mississippi river as a back drop. The streets are all bricked and best of all the parking was free. The lady in one of the stores told me of a tornado that hit in 1953 and ripped thru her (wasn't hers then) store. She then showed me a picture of the damage it had done to the store itself. It seems that the tornado just sat down right in the center of this shop and tore the inside of it up.

This is just an alley way next to the stores. If you were to keep walking down this alley and a bit further down you would run smack dab into Ole Man River.

We then decided to go to a haunted tour of an old antebellium home. The house was built in 1863 and the couple that lived there had 11 children of which only 6 saw adult hood. The man who owned the home was a lawyer and a jeweler. At the time of the seige of Vicksburg Gen. Grant slept in the home and the original furniture is still in the room. Also there is a place in the floor where a cannon ball went thru the floor in one of the parlors.

After the tour was over we went back to the hotel room and got ready for bed. The girls had a 10:00 game and a 2:00 game and they needed their rest. Saturday all we did was soccer and went out to eat as a team. Sunday we had a very early game at 8 in the am. After that game we went to the Military park. I will post some pictures of that tomorrow to show some of what we saw. If you are ever in or around Vicksburg, MS take time to see the sights it is well worth it.

Another Soccer filled weekend....

We are off for another one of those soccer filled weekends. Hopefully this one is the last for a few months. I know in the Spring we will be going all over the place but I need a break. Don't get me wrong I love watching the girls play but you know this has been non-stop since last February. I think we have had 2 weekends off with no practice or games in that time. We are going to be in Vicksburg, MS for the weekend and I'm hoping to have time to visit the military park there and take some pictures.
See you guys sometime Sunday or Monday.

Laundry

A simple enough title one would think, however if you dig a bit more you would find that laundry is not such a simple subject at all. There are 5 people in our family not including the 3 dogs and 2 cats. The 5 humans have the capability of creating mounds of laundry even as the wash lady finishes what she thinks is the last bit of dirty clothes in the house. I do not think these kids wear these clothes what I think happens is the clothes gnomes go thru the closest and decide that this looks like it was washed yesterday lets throw it on the pile in the floor so we can give that lady something to do she looks like she might have gotten a bit to comfortable. It's either that or these kids are wearing entirely to many clothes at once. My daughter and I are getting ready to go out of town this weekend for.... you guessed it soccer, and I have to get all the dang laundry done. I know that I could probably make the kids get it done but it wouldn't get done right or they would mess something up and that something would end up being something of mine. For all my complaining it is worth me doing the laundry. So tonight its laundry and packing for tomorrow. Then I have to get up with the chickens in the morning and get my oil changed, gas up the truck, go get drinks to fill the cooler and get snack type food for the road. And make sure I have plenty of yarn to keep me busy this weekend after games. We are going to do some sight seeing and maybe find a yarn shop if there is one around.

On another note, I bought the cutest cable sweater last night at JC Penney's. I sure with I could knit me one like this or some of the other ones that I saw. I have been looking at the different stitches and cabling trying to figure it out. I know it can be done but don't know if I'm able to do it or not. I might just try.

Better today

I'm better today, still a bit on the queasy side but better. I have come to the conclusion that I will live from what ever malady hit my stomach regions yesterday. Thanks again for all the well wishers I very much appreciate it.

One of my cats seem to think that my side of the bed on the pillow is a fabulous place to take a bath. Last evening I went into my room hoping to sit on the bed a crochet for a bit before anyone else in the house hollered for me to do something for them. Entering the room I immediately saw that it was apparent that I would not be getting on the bed at that particular moment. Scarlett was up on my pillow sitting on her butt with her back legs forward, here see for yourself:


It just isn't right I tell you. So I tell her to get down that I'm tired (yes I explained myself to my cat) and this is the look I get from her,

Looks at me like I can just wait.

The cat is crazy. I promise it about took an act of congress to get her off my side of the bed. Then she got mad and started pestering the dog who is scared of her. Miss Katie Scarlett is a fussy kitty cat but we love her anyway.

Thanks all you guys for the well wishes. I will be ok but getting thru today is been fun...not. I have been about frozen all day long. I couldn't turn the heat on because we have never lit the pilot in this house and I don't know how to do it. So I have sat here all day in socks I knitted out of thick wool (ugly but warm) my PJs and a jacket that came with some PJs I have. I kinda feel bad about not being at work only because I hate to push my work on someone else but sometimes you get sick.

Another one of those days....

I feel like crap. I stayed home from work today because my stomach decided to act a fool last night and this morning. The youngest is suffering from the same ailment. However, my gall bladder has been bothering the heck out of me. I haven't gone to a doctor about it yet and I know that I should but I haven't. It has been hurting me for about 2 weeks now and today is no different. I really hate feeling like this and I hate even more leaving work for others to do. That's not me. I have a desk full of work to do but I can't go in feeling like this. Heck I can't stay away from the potty room long enough. I know TMI for this morning.

I'm going to go get into bed and crochet today. Maybe I can get the baby blanket done or even most of the way done. That would be good. Then I can start on a baby hat and maybe a sweater if I can find one that I can do.

Of Blankets and Spiders

I know that was a really weird title but there is a reason, of sorts.
I'm making the beautiful baby blanket that Deneen created. I love it and it is so easy. Thanks Deneen. I will post a picture of it when I'm done I only hope I do it justice.

On to the other subject of spiders, we have a wonderful garden spider out the front door. She/He has spun a web across part of the flower bed. The kids and I have been watching her for the last week hoping to see her build her web and catch some dinner. I took a picture of the spider today for my youngest son thought it would be cool to take to school. His science teacher would appreciate it.

Long day

Today has been a long day for me. I took off a half day to take my daughter back to the doctor. She had been coughing for a couple of days before the tournament this past weekend and I had been treating the drip and the cough but by Sunday after the first game she had to be picked up and carried off the field. She got to where she couldn't breath and was getting dizzy. Monday morning I let her stay home from school because she was feeling so bad so my mom took her to the doctor for me. Well, I thought she just had bronchitis but noooo she has pneumonia. She hasn't felt any better and was just laying around not wanting to eat or anything else for that matter so today I decided that I was leaving early and taking her back. We get to the doctors office today and they refuse to see her because they say I owe (get this) $44.00 that the insurance didn't pay. I told them I couldn't pay that today but I would in two weeks so they told me they wouldn't see her. I asked them why they didn't tell my mom Monday and saw her anyway then told me to bring her back today for a recheck. They told me that they were sorry that no one told me that but they weren't seeing her. OK by this time my blood is boiling. I said to them, 'Are you telling me that 44.00 is more important than the health of a child and you won't see her because the insurance wouldn't pay for a wrist splint?' They told me yes. So I told them OK, since the doctor told me to bring her back today if she became more ill and ended up in the hospital or worse I would be hiring an attorney and suing the office for hospital bills and what the insurance wouldn't pay. I left at this point before I absolutely lost it. By the time I get home the office is calling me back to bring her back in to be checked. Jeez, I had to get mad, get my blood pressure up just to get my daughter seen. They took another x-ray today and there is no change matter of fact they said she sounded worse. She will bounce back soon but she is missing a bunch of school.

I had started working on a sweater but I got a call from a friend last night asking me to make a baby blanket for her daughter. I guess I can do both but it won't take me long to make a blanket. Might add a little hat and sweater if possible.

Monday's

I swear if I could have stayed in bed this morning I would have. This weekend has worn me out with all the soccer that was played. Now mind you my fat tail didn't play any soccer but I did take a butt load of pictures from the side line and I expended a bunch on energy on hollering at the girls to get with it. Outside of that, getting up before the dogs do is just to much for me. I was so tired by the time I got into the bed last night that I fell right out. Plus I'm getting all stuffy thanks to my coughing daughter. Oh well I guess that's the way the ball bounces.
My eldest was so good to me while we were gone all weekend, he did all do you hear me ALL the laundry, vacuumed, did dishes and took care of the dogs. I was so thankful that I didn't have to do all that. I didn't get the bathrooms cleaned but I'm going to get that done this evening.

On a good note, I was able to finish the socks I was making. I wasn't able to take a picture to post because as soon as I finished them my daughter took them and put them on her cold feet. She is going to love them. Maybe she will let me photograph her feet wearing them.
I'm going to start a sweater. Wish me luck because boy I'm going to need it. I found a pattern that didn't look to hard to do and I think I have enough yarn to actually make this one. The one I want to make is going to cost me an arm and a leg to make, right now I just don't have the money to buy the yarn to make it. I haven't gotten to buy yarn in a couple of months. And I'm beginning to have withdrawals. Our local Michael's is having a yarn sale and everything is marked down a bit but still I can't get what I want. They have it but I just can't. I keep entering the months drawing at Knit Picks hoping to win one day. I'm not that lucky and I'm sure that 15 million others are entering too. Maybe for Christmas some nice relative will look upon me with pity and give me a gift certificate to buy the yarn I want. LOL.

Soccer filled day

Today was nothing but soccer. From 7:30 this morning to about 2:00 this afternoon we played soccer. We didn't win either game but they played hard. The team has a ways to go to get to the level of some of the other teams. Anyway I'm to tried to write to much so I'm going to go but here is a picture of them playing well its my daughter stopping a ball.

Felted purse

I have been meaning to post the pictures of the purse I knitted a few months back. It turned out pretty good but after I felted it, it shrunk unmercifully. I could not believe it shrunk so much. But anyway here are a couple of pictures of it:

Busy, Busy

I'm going to be beyond busy this weekend and I'm not looking forward to it at all. Lets see....Tonight my family and I are going to my MIL' s birthday party. She orchestrated this entire event and it looks to be a bunch of fun. Then tomorrow morning Tori and I have to be up before the rooster crows to be on the soccer field in Memphis at 7:30am. My mother will be taking the youngest to his soccer game in Mississippi at 8:30 then she and he will be meeting me at the Memphis field after his game. Tori plays again at 12:45 then I will leave with the youngest to back to Mississippi for him to play another game at 3:00pm. We will make it home somewhere around 5:00 that evening. But wait folks that's not all... Sunday again we have to get up before the rooster crows and this time be on the field at 7:00am in Memphis then she plays again I think at 3:00. It's nothing but soccer this weekend. I love going to the games but I hate when they are back to back like this. Sundays are not to bad at least the girls can get a bit of rest in between. Fortunately we only have one more tournament this month in Vicksburg then no more soccer this season till Spring. I really could use the break. Tori is going to be lost without it because that's all she does besides school.