Picture Day

Today is picture day at Sean's school.

I usually don't order any because there is no shortage of portraits around here and school pics usually stink anyway. Mostly because my kids inherited the 'weird smile picture day face' thing from their Uncle Chris ;) BUT.... since this is Sean's first year of school, Jessi convinced me to get some this year. SO... this morning Sean and I spent a little time practicing NOT making the 'Uncle Chris Face.'

With my luck I probably only made things worse ;)

Better late than never, right?

I think I waited so long because...

#1 -I am greatly traumatized by that fact that my daughter is now going to middle school dances, getting asked out by boys (and not being grossed out by it anymore) and wanting to wear make-up.

#2 -Not crazy about the pics. My house is not great for photo taking. It's pretty dark because of the wrap around porch and the yellow walls everywhere make white balance go wonky. ....plus when the kids are jumping around like mexican jumping beans, I don't have time to mess around with camera settings!!! They are tween-age girls. One second they are in your face posing... the next second they have their hands over the faces screaming, "STOP TAKING MY PICTURE!! I HATE YOU AND YOUR STUPID CAMERA! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" ....the next second and are gone in a flurry of squeals, giggles and 'OMG NO WAY!!!'s'


Anyhoo... they had a BLAST. She :::gulp::: danced with TWO boys! One of the boys she danced with was the one who asked her to 'go to the dance with him' (even though that means nothing at this age other than they will both be there...lol), and when she said she wasn't allowed to do that.... he tried again the next day...lol!! He is the son of Rick and my high school History teacher... which is weird... but it's a small town, ya know?? In high school, as I watched Mr. King talk about Paul Revere and Abe Lincoln, I never once daydreamed (and there was a LOT of daydreaming in history class!) that one day he would have a son who would have a crush on my daughter...lol!

...and just in case you are keeping tabs..... Yes. I am supposed to be in class right now ;)

These were in yesterdays blog when I posted it... I SWEAR!!!

Sometimes there is no reason...

You just plain wake up bitchy. You're not mad at anyone... or sad about anything in particular. Just bitchy.

Today was my day. In an attempt to de-bitch myself, I took Sean for a walk and photo shoot in the woods.

How could anyone not laugh at this character. He is such a weirdo!!

Seriously.... look at that face! I just wanna SQUISH IT!! :)

It actually was a very nice day if I was in a better mood. Julie's b'day party was very nice. I got outdoors to play ;) I got to browse as long as I wanted in Schact's Gift Shop. Nicole and I even ended the evening with a fun trip to the Slots to play Poppit Slots! I have only been to the Slots one other time. I still don't really get the appeal. We had fun though. I think Nicole and I could have fun in a ___________ (<----insert really boring place there because I can't think of anything).

Tomorrow I will post about Jessi's very first middle school dance!!

It is not a nice day.

But Sean was VERY happy because he FINALLY got to wear the raincoat that he has begged to wear every day since the first day of school ;)

My TV :)

Nicole posted a 'challenge' over on her blog to list all our favorite TV shows. Current favs and old stand-bys. Here are mine. I'd LOVE to see you list too and I have to agree with Nicole... "NO saying "Oh.... we don't watch much TV" or "We don't even OWN a TV" OR "... we only watch educational programming" Gag. Gag. Puke. Puke. Whaddaya want a freaking medal or a chest to pin it on?? ;) ;)

OK.... My current favs... (I even got all serious about this and went to tvguide.com to check each nights listings because Rick is slacking off in the shower and Survivor is paused waiting for him... LOL... Slacking off...better than.... nevermind.)

• #1 of COURSE is Xena!! Still watch it every morning while I drink my iced coffee and check blogs n' e-mails
• #2 of course is General Hospital... been watching since I was ...well... I don't know... really young!!
  

Monday....

• How I met your mother
  
• New Adventures of Old Christine (though... I haven't seen that one on this season... cancelled maybe? bummer. )
• Big Bang Theory

Tuesday...
Nothin. Tuesday sucks. It's usually a 'go to bed early and read' night.

Wednesday

• Pushing Daisies

Thursday is THE night for TV (although I'm exhausted tonight so it will be THE night for DVR tonight I think)

• Survivor
• CSI
• ER

Friday

Nothin' again. I usually catch up on DVR stuff.

Saturday

Nothin'

Sunday

Nothin'

I DVR House every week because it never seems to be on the same time twice... or maybe I am just dumb and can't wrap my head around it for some reason. or MAYBE it's some strange subconscious aversion to the show that I am not ready to deal with yet ;) But I do love that show!!

I DVR a lot of stuff so our thing is always full of stuff to watch. Though my space is limited since Jessi records all 254 Full House episode that are on every day. Stuff I DVR ....

Ghost Hunters
Everybody Loves Raymond
People's Court (yeah yeah... I love it, sue me LOL)
2 and a half men MIGHT make it into the DVR since it made syndication this year and I think I have seen all the 'Raymonds'

....there ya go :) Off to watch Survivor!!

The season comes to an end

Yesterday was Jessi's last home game. I think we are all a little bummed out! Jessi LOVES field hockey and it was so great to see her really putting her heart into it and excelling!! I loved going to watch her games ...even though it made many days 'on the run' starting at 6am and not getting a chance to sit down til 7pm!! Sean loved Jessi's games too. He is one of those kids that's able to join in any game with any bunch of kids! I usually don't "see" (obviously I SEE him... but he's off doing his thing) him from the time we get there until I round him up to leave.

She's not sure what's next for her. Still waffling about trying out for basketball. I think part of her would like a break... but part of her loves all the activity!

Oh yeah... almost forgot... HOW gross is THIS!!?? Trash Mountain is so high now that you can see it all the way from the kid's schools... MILES AWAY!!! NASTY!!!!! What a landmark Sawyer has created for our town, huh?

A Bloggy kind of day

This morning Rick decided his blog needed a little spicing up... guess who gets to do the spicing ;) Not only did he want his blog spiced up, but he wanted a photo shoot too. Of course I was glad to oblige. I will be obliging another photo shoot later today as Jessi and her friend Courtney are begging to do a shoot at the cemetery.

Then a little later while IMing with my Dad, he decides he'd like a blog too and I offered to help him get set up.
I got him started and I'm sure he'll be doing lots of tweaking to it once he gets it all figured out!!

Off to photo shoot #2!!

Sean is playing a little Wii since he's all ready for school and I am checking e-mails and stuff....


Me: Hey Sean, Why are you such a doofus?

Sean: ::mock dirty look:: I am NOT a doofus.

Me: Um... I'm PRETTY sure you are a doofus.

Sean: ::'ignoring' me playing Wii:: I'm pretty sure I am not.

Me: Well... last night a little creature that looked like Dobbie (a Harry Potter creature for those of you not 'in the know' ....though I can't imaging there are many out there that haven't seen HP) came into my room and whispered in my ear, :::high pitched monster-y voice::: "Sean is a doofus."

Sean throws his head back and laughs and then condescendingly looks at me and says...

"Oh Mommy... I just love it when you play these games with me"

Sorry Stephanie

I know payback's gonna be a bitch, but you know I just HAD to post it LOL!!

This is the face you make after sitting for an hour staring at a WHOLE LOTTA ass crack!!

Tonight I finally made it to a meeting of the camera club Stephanie has been trying to get me to go to for a least a year. Yeah... I'm kinda slow ;) It was a very neat meeting and I definitely learned some stuff. I am looking foward to the next meeting and learning even MORE stuff!!

It was also nice to get out without the kids and after a day of a WHOLE LOTTA data entry and getting bitched out by old ladies (ok... just the one old lady) who told me, "'it must be nice to have your job where all I would have to do is write stuff down and not know anything about anything. Nice agency you have there where all you do is tell people that you are there to give them information but none of ya know anything." LOL!! Alllllllllrighty then!! The other staff there were all worried that I was upset by the whole thing... I just laughed and said, "Please! She was nothing! You should meet my Nana!" ;) ;)

Oh yeah... I also got a phone call from Sean's school in the midst of my delightful data entry. My BABY got stung by a wasp on the playground :( They called to let me know they put ice one it, observed him for 15 minutes and he was back in class. What a yucky feeling it was to hear that kind of thing and not be there or be able to run right over there and kiss him and smoosh him!!

DAMN DAMN DAMN I forgot to do a load of laundry. Guess I'll be up late tonight. :-[

Pushing Daisies

LOVING this show!! It reminds me of the movie 'Big Fish' in many ways. Loved that movie! I hope others feel the same way so that it sticks around awhile. It's pretty quirky though, and overall, middle America 'don't do quirky.'

As for other new shows this season... BLECH! Last night there was nothing on, so I left the channel on with the Caveman and Carpool show while I surfed the net. Not surprisingly the caveman show is COMPLETE AND UTTER CRAPOLA. The carpool one had it's funny moments, but it was pretty much crap too. It's all good though. I have a few favorite shows, House, Survivor, ER, How I met your mother, CSI... and now Pushing Daisies. I kinda like having several nights a week where there are no shows on I like. It encourages me to do something other than watch TV. (I said it encouraged me to.... not that I actually DID other things ;) )

Jessi got her mid-term progress reports today, (kind of redundant since all her grades for every assignment are online through Powerschool, but some people must not have computers, right?) all A's! YAY JESSI!

Mad Scrappin'

Wow ....we're dumb.

As I watched the Blue Jays fight and sqauwk at each other on the feeder yesterday (even though there is more than enough to go around).... it occurs to me that I have not seen any finches at the feeder all day. Or the day before. BECAUSE THEY HAVE ALL FLOWN SOUTH FOR THE WINTER!! DUH! So all that 'urgency' about getting my feeder up and making a special trip to get seed because I didn't realize it was a thistle seed feeder... for NOTHING!!

Class today. I love class day! I just have class from 1130-1230 (supposed to be 1250, but I think the teacher thinks it's 1230 and we sure aren't going to tell her otherwise!! lol). The rest of the day I am free to do errands and/or clean while catching up on DVR recordings that are severly backing up on me since losing my job as a SAHM! I also usually use one of the days to go out and take some pictures. Not today because Ken has all his lenses back, including my favorite 135mm!! All is ok though, because I totally STOLE one on Ebay for $30!!! Bet that seller is piiiiiiiissed!!! Hee Hee :) Today I think I will scrapbook and make a lasagna. I have gotten a couple pages done. Nice to see my mojo back... I was a little worried there for awhile that I was done scrapbooking for good!! Would have made having a room dedicated to it and hundreds (ok maybe thousands...maybe) of dollars in supplies seem quite silly ;) My 'style' has changed quite a bit though. I am no longer willing to spend hours on one page... and I could probably get rid of all my embellishments like buttons and ribbon and stuff and not even notice. Every now and then I have to do a page and make a conscious effort to use that stuff just so to use it up.


Alrighty... I've rambled on enough and Sean's bus should be along shortly so it's time to get him out the door.

Happy Monday!!!


P.S. If you want to see WAY better pics than the ones I took the other day with that crappy-ass lens... go see Nicole's pics!!

P.P.S. LOOK how freaking clean those windows are!! LOL!!!

Wii are READY!!!!!!

DAY-UM BITCH... You need to wash your windows!

As I sit here on this lovely Sunday morning with my iced coffee and the sun streaming in our front windows I realize..... WOW... my windows are freakin' filthy! So I guess one of Sunday's chores will involve me on the porch with some windex and many, many paper towels. Although... I think I heard somewhere that newspaper is better for cleaning windows ...then I wouldn't waste all my paper towels. Hmmmmm.....

Also on todays 'TO DO'.... (for crying out loud I JUST had a bunch of things in my head that I wanted to get done today and now I can't even remember anything except the windows)

OK...I remember!

-Laundry... it's getting a little outta control in the laundry room since the kids cleaned their rooms yesterday and we cleaned out the car... all were full of clothes. WHY do my kids feel the need to strip down the SECOND they get in the car after school? There were about 11 pairs of socks, 6 sweatshirts, and 14 pairs of shoes in the van!

-Get Birdseed. I finally got a little feeder for the porch, only to discover that it is a thistle feeder and I have no thistle seed. My mom is confident (and Rick agrees) that birds will come right up to the porch for seed, and that would be cool... but I think they are both nuts. There are not even any trees or bushes near the porch!

-Set up a home network!!! I had my computers all networked before we got that damn Vista contraption. I have tried a couple times to get it all going again. Today is the day!!! That way Rick will be able to get into the laptop to look at and use pictures for his blog since that seems to be his 'thing' lately. I think it's funny because the pics he chooses are so random and have nothing to do with what he is blogging about...lol!!

I think that's enough... I have a feeling that last one is gonna be a doozy!!

P.S. the newspaper thing turned out to be one of those "OMG WHY HAVEN'T I KNOWN ABOUT THIS ALL ALONG!? THIS IS FREAKIN AWESOME!!" things!

Enjoying Maine

What a nice day :) We took a trip to Fort Knox and the observatory. On the way there I spotted a red field that turned out to be a blueberry patch (I know... duh) and we decided to take a closer look. We had a nice walk and got some nice pictures. Then we noticed there were still blueberries on the plants and then started to wonder if we were gonna get in trouble for being there.... and we did...lol!! Oh well... no harm done.

I took a ton of pictures and was pretty disappointed to get home and realize they mostly crappy. I used my pawn shop Sears 28mm because I wanted a wide angle for all the scenery and that lens just stinks. Not sure why, but it has really bad vignetting only on the right, so I had to use my vingette action to make it look like I did it all on purpose ;)

The observatory was very cool. Sean was TERRIFIED right up until we got into the elevator, then we realized it wasn't even scary and was able to enjoy himself. If was very neat to be ABOVE the eagles soaring in the sky!! I tried to get a pic of them... no dice.

All-in-all is was a very nice day and I think the kids will be ready for bed early tonight after all that climbing....running... rolling.... jumping..... spinning....................

Gulf Hagas

Not my photo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

Looks like we are REALLY DOING IT!!! Gulf Hagas!! I am super excited!! I have been reading website after website about the trail and some of it is pretty scary! I e-mailed Kristie this morning and said...

"If the trail is really narrow and it's a mile down free-fall... Or If I am fatter than that trail is wide... I'll be happily turning back ;) LOL

But I want to be sure that you guys will still go on. There is LOTS there for me to take pictures of and stuff and I would really want you guys to go on even if I chicken out. PROMISE YOU WILL GO ON.... Unless you are scared too. LOL"


(and now for some reason blogger won't let me turn italics off)

It should be so gorgeous there!! I *think* the leaves will be their peak or color... or maybe just a little bit past. The water will probably not be as rushing as it is in this photo since by fall most rivers and streams are pretty low.... but who knows?? I've never been there... and the leaves in this photo are starting to turn, so maybe it WILL be just like it is in the photo. Either way, it should be quite an adventure and I can't wait to take photos of my OWN!!!

A few from Sunday

Nicole HATES woods! But she did a great job at pretending she didn't when we went on our little walk ;) Sean LOVED having Nicole all to himself!! He was a total clown posing for shots!! At one point he even dropped to the ground in a meditation pose as we were all walking and says, 'SHHH! I need to meditate now!' What a weirdo.

I am supposed to be doing homework.....