Ugh!

Sometimes you get really good movies from Netflix... this is not one of them.

Mark Twain Festival

Carlie finished up PCCA's Mark Twain Festival at CCP today. I was loving that I could pick her up there instead of driving down to the school. Yesterday, the 5th graders had frog races (think Calaveras County) to raise money for their Williamsburg trip. Today, the upper school had raft races on the lake. Each homeroom designs and builds a raft that would have been used back in Tom Sawyer days. Then, they race them. The kids get to dress up like Tom, Huck, and Becky and have lunch at the park before the races.

Some of Carlie's class

The rafts

This is the one that won

Have a great weekend!
Our weather is supposed to be beautiful!!!
Hopefully fall is here to stay!!

Bridal Shower Buzz

I'm back. The bridal shower turned out very well, I think. Despite the fact that she was up sick all night, Casey was a trooper and made it through the day with a smile on her face. The color theme was black and white with lime green accents. Everything came together just in time for guests to arrive.

Heather, MOH, and hostess with the mostest!

The Bride to Be, Casey with her Momma, my mom-in-law.

One of my contributions... The party favors. Simple paper purse bags from Hobby Lobby filled with Hershey's kisses and sealed with lime green ribbon.

The gift table

The guests

The best part. The food table. Yum!

More of my contributions. Looking at the picture, I don't think the fruit bouquet looks as good as I thought. Next time, I will cut down some of the skewers so they aren't so obvious. But, it saved $50+ making it myself, so I can't complain too much. The giant cupcake turned out very cute, but it is NOT easy to cut into pieces.

Another guest photo

I'll Be Spending the Weekend in...

Hopefully I won't be subjected to Buckeye football

Back Monday with bridal shower pics!!

Picture Day

Top 2 Tuesday

Top 2 Things You Want to Accomplish This Year:

1. Win the Fantasy Football League I am in-- (Or at least do better than the hubby!) This is going to be a tall order based on Sunday's games. I thought by having Drew Brees as my QB, it would be smooth sailing. Not the case. I think I need to trade RB Joseph Addai because Peyton Manning throws too much.


2. Evict Sallie Mae from the basement-- This is going to take until March, but the celebration is going to be HUGE!! Being debt-free will be awesome!!



To participate in Top 2 Tuesday, visit Taylor's blog.

Busy Week

This may be the only post I have this week. We have a lot going on. Tomorrow, I start BSF as we take a year to go through the book of Isaiah.



The kids begin AWANA tomorrow night. Noah is so excited. It will be his first year as a Cubbie.



Carlie will begin her second year of Sparks. Last year, she completed the entire book, plus the extra credit book before the year ended. I'm glad it comes with a CD again because it gives us something to listen to on the way to school.



Not to be left out, Mike starts Men's Fraternity at church Friday morning.



After that he has to drop me off at the airport as I head to Columbus, OH to help put on the shower of all bridal showers for Miss (soon-to-be Mrs) Casey. So, lots to do between now and Friday. I may have to throw in a post about The Apprentice or Survivor (go Jimmy J.) as they premiere this week.

Have We Forgotten?

It seems like yesterday in a lot of ways, although nine years have passed. What a horrible day it was. It started out normal enough. Driving to my second day of work at a new job, listening to the radio. A few minutes before reaching the medical office I would spend the next eight hours in, breaking news... "We have a report that some sort of plane has crashed into the top of the World Trade Center, and there is smoke billowing out the top." My first thought was that someone must have been taking flying lessons and gotten a little too close. Boy was I wrong.

Flash forward nine years. I'm sitting at the computer wondering what the heck has happened to our country in those nine years. It sickens me. We are a nation divided. How is it that people could have so much hatred for one man that they think he planned it? How is it that what happened on that day has since become "our fault"? Why are we apologizing? Why do so many people who hate our country and what it stands for continue to live here? Why are so many people still sitting on the sidelines watching it all play out? I have more questions, and I have an idea of what the answer is to several. I truly believe we are reaching a point where people are going to be forced to pick a side. Our current administration has made it perfectly clear whose side they are on. You need to know what you believe and why you believe it. Do me a favor. If your Bible is sitting there collecting dust, pick it up and read it. It doesn't really matter where you start, it's all good.

Our Little Feminist

Carlie finished up reading a mystery book set during the Pilgrim's Mayflower Journey. Shortly after, I found this sign next to her door...

She cracks me up!
(If you can't read it, it says "Unfair! Women could not sign the Compact fo the Pilgrims!"--I know, she spells everything correctly except "of", go figure)

Friday Favorite

So thankful to Albert Pujols and Andy Benes and all the other St. Louis folks who donated their money so JOY FM (now on 99.1) could get a stronger signal. It's pretty much the only station we listen to now. This my favorite song of the moment. It is Matt Maher's Hold Us Together. I will probably use it when I put together another photo slideshow. It would be perfect to use for a mission trip slideshow. It's just an awesome song. I posted the actual song at the end of the lyrics if you want to hear it.

It don't have a job
Don't pay your bills Won't buy you a home in Beverly Hills
Won't fix your life In five easy steps
Ain't the law of the land Or the government

But it's all you need

And Love, will, hold us together
Make us a shelter to weather the storm
And I'll, be, my brothers keeper
So the whole world will know that we're not alone

It's waiting for you knockin' at your door!
In the moment of truth when your heart hits the floor

And you're on your knees

And Love, will, hold us together
Make us a shelter to weather the storm
And I'll, be, my brothers keeper
So the whole world will know that we're not alone

This is the first, day of the rest of your life
This is the first, day of the rest of your life
'Cause even in the dark you can still see the light
It's gonna be alright, It's gonna be alright

This is the first, day of the rest of your life
This is the first, day of the rest of your life
'Cause even in the dark you can still see the light
It's gonna be alright, It's gonna be alright

Love, will, hold us together
Make us a shelter to weather the storm
And I'll, be, my brothers keeper
So the whole world will know that we're not alone

Another Ebay Find

With Casey's wedding quickly approaching in mid-October, I needed to get Carlie's flower girl dress. Luckily, I was able to find one with a sweet apple color (bridesmaid dresses) ribbon as well as a matching head wreath. The wreath alone on David's Bridal is $25. I was able to get the dress and wreath for $32 including shipping. The dress is a little big on her, but I am waiting until a week before to do any alterations because she will probably decide to grow.

I have my eye on something else on ebay that I hope to snag over the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.

Quick Fix

I've been watching a lot of Get It Sold and The Unsellables on HGTV. Thanks to the DVR, I can see the whole episode in roughly 10 minutes. Whenever we are able to move, I am hoping to have most of the "fixes" done, so all there is left to do is a little staging. Anyway, here are a few things I have done with a can of spray paint...

The soap holder in one of the bathrooms was still that cheap fake brass color. Everything else in the bathroom, fixture wise, is chrome. So I got my trusty can of Krylon and got busy.

I highly recommend a mask if you do not have a bathroom window. Turn the fan on, too. The fumes are strong. Spray and Allow to dry. Krylon dries in 15 minutes.

And, voila. New fixture for pennies.

Another quick and easy project, the air returns. These, in that fake brassy color as well, have started to rust partially due to the Swiffer Wet Jet Spray we clean our floors with. Again, using the same can of Krylon, I had great results. I should be able to do all of them with the same can. If I went out and purchased new air returns, it would cost at least $100. So, another money-saving quick fix recycling instead of tossing and buying new.

Must See TV

Well, the "Dancing with the Stars" cast has officially been announced (although I've known for a few weeks a certain someone was going to be on), and I will force myself to watch this season. Why? Duh, he's going to be on it!

(The resemblance to my hubby is remarkable :-)

I might actually pick up the phone and vote this season. Since there are no Olympians this season, Kurt might have a shot at the Disco Ball Trophy or whatever that thing is. As for some of the other cast of characters, here are my thoughts...

Jennifer Grey... nobody puts Baby in the corner!

Carol Brady... is it bad if I don't vote for her even though she is my Aunt's cousin?

Bristol Palin... hopefully she is on long enough to rid herself of that last bit of baby weight. Not that I care, but most women that go on that show say they hope to lose a few pounds. I hope that Loser, Levi Johnston, doesn't show up in the crowd.

Audrina Patridge... I guess she needs work now that "The Hills" is over. Wasn't she on that? I really don't know because I never watched it. She probably won't last long because most people over 40 don't know who she is.

The Situation... Does he have a name? Something tells me he will be wearing his shirts unbuttoned. I guess I'd rather see him than Snookie, but I don't think they could extract her from the tanning booth long enough to practice. Again, most people over 40 won't know who he is. I'm sure my Dad is reading this right now saying, "Who is that reprobate?" Maybe Kurt will be a positive influence.

What An Embarrassment

I admit it. I was wrong. Miss USA didn't win the Miss Universe Pageant. Am I embarrassed? No. What is embarrassing is that she didn't even place in the top 15! Has that ever happened? Actually it has, but it is very unusual. Maybe that fasting for Ramadan took its toll on her.
Anyway, I thought overall the pageant was fairly entertaining. John Legend. Good. Hair styling tips and product advice. Good. Bret Michaels was acting like a 12 year old boy. Can you bring Bob Barker back, please??!!!??

Let's jump to the Final Five, but before I do, I have to say one thing to Miss Puerto Rico. Who picked out that Pepto pink evening gown with the bigger than ginormous bow on it? Ugh! That was why she didn't get top 5.

Top Five Final Question Breakdown

Question: How is unsupervised internet usage affecting teenagers?

Miss Mexico- (needs a translator) Blah blah blah porque blah blah que blah blah bueno momento blah blah (take a breath chicky, the translator can't keep up)

Don't know what she said even after it was translated, but she didn't answer the question. Judge Evan Lysecek had a dumbfounded look on his face when she finished. Apparently, it didn't matter. Kudos to me for also suggesting Miss Mexico had a chance to win.

Question: Something about countries passing laws about banning certain religious clothing

Miss Australia- (love the Aussie accent) Fashion is a freedom of choice and should not be controlled by the government. She also gave a plug to the swimsuit designer.

I thought the judges would have liked that a bit more than they did.

Question: Is the death penalty okay?

Miss Jamaica- Life was given to us by our Creator, God, and the only one who should decide is God, the one who created us.

When the judges are 90% Hollywood people who change religions faster than they change their underwear, mentioning we only have one God could have cost her the crown. They were looking for more of the "No, that is cruel and unusual punishment and Charles Manson should be freed immediately" type of answer.

Question: Do you think it is okay for airports to use full body security scanners?

Miss Ukraine- It's a matter of safety and security. If it will prevent future tragedies like the ones we have in the past, then I am for it.

So am I Miss Ukraine, unfortunately for you, most of the judges probably donate to the ACLU who are trying to have them banned.

Question: What is the biggest mistake you have made?

Miss Phillipines- I'm sorry, sir. I was raised well and don't think I have ever made a mistake.

What? That's a fast track to last place answer if I ever heard one. Couldn't you come up with something? Anything? Maybe, I ate a whole pumpkin pie once as a kid and puked my guts out so now I never eat pumpkin pie. (No, I didn't do that, but I know who did.)

Are You Ready for Some Football?

I am. With the Cardinals' chances of postseason play getting slimmer by the day, I figure it's time to turn my attention to more exciting stuff. Like Sunday football wears. Who knew Victoria's Secret sold NFL clothes? Quite the secret if you ask me. I was able to find a few of my favorite on the Boys' website...

Like a Rhinestone Cowboy

I like this one, but stark white washes me out. Bummer!

I can't think of any other bottoms to lounge around in on Sunday afternoons this fall... although I did see a pair on ebay that I can't find anywhere else.

Cute little raglan waffle tee for when the weather gets chilly.

All clothing can be found at DallasCowboys.com.