Just hello today.

No big report today. Just a hello. Working hard at mentally preparing for the BIG PUSH starting tommorow. Ready to go on my next step to good health! Yeahh! :O)

Sharing another photo or two from the cabin...so beautiful up there. Love that place.
Tons of nature to photograph and embrace the beauty of the simple things. You know?

OK have a good one folks!
Darla

Need A Push?

Well, not much time to post this morning but wanted to check in and say HI! Things are going good, just busy busy as usual. Kids, house, all that fun stuff. I have been getting some yardwork done as well and started babysitting again this week. So far so good - summer is off to a good start and we'll be in full swing soon! Wheee!

Planning to head back up to the fab-cab (cabin in Island Park) in 2 weekends, can't hardly wait! So excited for fun times up there and memories for our families. Our friends Blake and Lisa have kids near in age to ours and we all enjoy one another's company so much, it is just awesome to have friendships like this. We are so blessed.
*the photo is from the cabin, just one of a ton of the nature pix I took*

OK who is up for a BIG PUSH with me? I have already recruited a friend to join in but I am offically naming JUNE 2007 BIG PUSH Month! I am rearing to go and ready to jump in with both feet for a full month of total fitness and health! Good foods! Good excersize! Good choices ALL month long! By July 1st we should be feeling like a million bucks baby! So, if you want to join in with us, drop me an email! I think having the support and push from others is a huge part of weight loss and fitness sucess and the more we have the better we do! I for one, do so much better when I am accountable to someone else AND have to check in, report and devulge the good and the bad to my partners! So, join in if you want to! JUNE is going to rock! :O)

Off and going for the day... have a good one folks!
Darla

Beautiful Island Park Sunday! *With Photos!*

Wow! What a TOTALLY amazing day we had on Sunday! Our best friends bought an "older" cabin up in Island Park and are doing a remodel (aka "flip") on it and have invited us up to visit, help, hang out, whatever.(I think they may end up keeping the cabin when they are done though instead of re-selling!!) Well, I have been DYING to get up there for the past 3 weeks and we finally went up for the day yesterday! We only took 2 of the kids with us but plan on going again for the whole w/end in a couple weeks with the whole family.
Basically this cabin is pretty beat up and run down. However, Blake and Lisa have a "vision" and are awesome at fixing things up so they have begun the process of spending w/ends up there working (and playing a bit too)! We went up yest morning and spent our day helping build the new deck railings on the cabin... the decks (upper and lower) face the back of the lot and there is a nice stream running about 20 ft from the deck...so cool! The kids played in that little stream most of the day, also played games, watched movies and took turns taking 4 wheeler rides with Blake's Dad, Ken. What a guy, totally a trooper with the kids, so nice of him! The 4 wheelers were a BLAST and a 1/2 and I even learned how to drive one ALL BY MYSELF!!!! (this has been a big fear of mine for a long long time!) The guys, Ed and Blake, took a couple of 4 wheeler rides themselves, kicking up the dust big time (Ed looked like a racoon from all the dirt!) and even getting into a marsh- like area and Blake got totally SWAMPED with water! It was a awesome fun!
The guys did spend most of the day working and got a lot done, but there were oodles of opportunity for play too and I think everyone had a blast!
-Some photos here are of the cabin, front and side views...you can see the work that needs done? LOL It will be beautiful though.
-There is also a pix of the guys working, so hunky all those big muscles and sweat egh? (hee hee)
-The kids playing in the creek, building a damn (loved saying that word too...goofy kids) and getting eaten up by mosquitos! ick!
-There is a LOVELY photo of Lisa and I there, sorry no glamour shot, but hey, we got dirty and had fun!
-Then there is a photo of the trees and scenery as you pull up the drive to the cabin. Just wanted to show how close to nature it is, the trees, flowers, streams, all just amazing. You really feel so serene up there, I loved every minute of it!
*You can click on any of the images to enlarge them!*

So, that was our day! Can't wait to go again and get more pix to share! Hope you have enjoyed your holiday weekend too!
HUGS
Darla

AMAZING DAY!

OK totally had an amazingly awesomely awesome day today up in Island Park at the cabin with our friends Blake and Lisa (and family). Downloading pix as I write this but I am totally wiped out and heading to bed so I'll have to give you all the big story tommorrow. Sorry! Hope you are enjoying your Holiday Weekend too! Kisses! Darla

Something to talk about

Hmmmm first and foremost, I have "lost" the ability to post my messages in different colors and I am not computer literate enough to figure it out so for now you get boring colors. Bummer. Sorry for that. (it IS the simple things that keep me happy you know) OK, enough on that.

So, as I mentioned in my previous post, things have been busy this week- pre-weekend for us but I had some spare moments to sit down and figured I'd pick up where I left off and also say a few other things too.

OK, well I am totally BUMMED out right now as I have been in sort of a scrapbook slump the past few months. Since I have been spending more time at the gym, sleeping different hours, so on and so forth, I just have not spent much time on my scrapping. I actually have not been even spending much time here at the computer either. So, now the scrappies are chomping at me and I am feeling the urge to let my creativity go go go again and I am finding that I have no scrappy buddies anymore! BOO HOO! Well, my online buds but they live all over the country! LOL
(time out - have to go fix dinner.... brb)
OK dinner done, even went for a 1/2 hr walk! Back to business: so, I have been having a scrapping urge and yet I seem to have trouble making time to actually sit down and do it. Part of it is that I want to go to a crop at the lss (local scrapbook store) or something but time has not allowed and it seems like everyone is so busy on weekends.I did go to the sb store in Rigby today while Chris was at work for a couple of hours, just worked on some creativity books but it DEFINATLY got my scrappy juices going! Now this big sb convention thing is coming up in a couple of weeks and I really want to go to both the vendor part AND the day crops (only $5 bucks for both days!but I dont' want to go alone :O( My buddy Robin is going to be on vacation and I dont' really have any other people to ask to go with me. Big fat bummer. Guess I'll figure it out. Not really that big of a deal, but it is, you know?
Alright, so the other part of my "woes" right now is the weight thing. I had this big revelation yesterday as it was the kids last day of school, right? Well, I originally started my fitness quest on the first day of school back in August....so it occured to me that I had been working at this for a FULL school year (aka 9 mos) and I suddenly got really flustered with where I am at. I have lost an amazing 45 (almost 50!!) lbs in the past 9 months but it has been SO slow going. I have been consistant in losing and have changed major lifestyle things. I have cut out so much bad and added in so much good. I have gone from ultra LAZY and sedentary to super energetic and motivated. I have cut out pop and caffine and added in water and veggies. I go to the gym at stinking 5:00 A.M.!!!! So, my hard work and sacrifice IS paying off....just a lot slower than I had hoped for. This past few weeks has been really hard as I was sick and gained about 9 lbs back, getting that back off again and trying to move on has been a huge hurdle for me. Right now I am "stuck" at this mid-forty weight and I am DYING to get to the 50 lb loss! I am 1/3 of the way done - thinking THAT way, it seems huge to me. But thinking of only losing 5 lbs per month is VERY VERY disheartening and discouraging. At that rate I'll be going at this another 18 months.... A YEAR AND A 1/2 MORE??!! I am so not envisioning that as a good thing. However, the biggest portion of my fitness and weight loss is focusing on lifestyle changes so it is not like I am going to hit my goal and and just start eating donuts and french fries everyday and quit working out either. That is one thing that keeps me focused. So rather than think 18 months I have to think "the rest of my life". OK I have rattled on enough. I beat myself up pretty good yesterday over all this and finally came to the conclusion that I am doing the right things and my body will respond as it is supposed to... I don't get to "set" a time table or anything easy like that. I just have to keep doing the right things. :O)

If you have read ALL of this bless your heart! If you have read 1/2 or even less of this , bless your heart too! Have a GREAT weekend! Happy memorial day!? (ew, that just does not sound right LOL)

Darla

Weight - weekend - schools out

Well, the weekend is here, lots going on, but I only have a minute to post to ya. Basically yesterday (Thurs) was the last day of school for the kids, they are out for summer break now. Yay? OK sure. Also marked the 9 month mark for me on my weight loss and fitness and was sort of hard to deal with. I had a great long thing all figured out to post here yesterday then ran out of time. Basically 9 months is a good/bad thing and I am happy and frustrated all in one. At the rate I am going it will take me another freaking 18 months to lose all the weight I want to lose and that is SO not what I had envisioned at all. *sigh* I will go into it more later I guess.

We have lots going on already today with the w/end upon us. Washing cars, mowing lawns, cleaning kids NASTY bedrooms. Fun stuff. Hope that tommorrow we can sneak off to Island Park for a day or so to visit and help our friends with the cabin they are working on up there. We'll see.

That is about it for now. Hope you enjoy the long weekend and make Memorial day a memorable one. Take lots of pix of your families!

HUGS
Darla

What Kind of Cake Are You

YOU ARE AN ICE CREAM CAKE
Surprising, unique, and high maintenance.
You're one of a kind, and you don't want anyone to forget it.
You're fun in small doses, but it's easy for people to overdose on you!

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcakeareyouquiz

Mopping - whose bright idea was THAT?

Is there any doubt in your mind that MEN invented things like mops...vaccumes...and the like? yeah... they think that it makes life easier I am sure, but me, no, I hate mopping. ICK! OK so my kitchen/diningroom floors were a nasty mess. I went to mop them and the lil' spongie thing on the end (mop-head is the official term I guess?) just up and gave out on me! The thing like came unstuck from the base and there I was, middle of a sticky floor and no mop. GEESH! So I proceed to jimmy-rig it with a rag around the mop and try to at least finish up that bit of the floor. No, not happening. So, I gave up. Fast forward 3 days........ I keep forgetting to buy the sponge replacement at WalMart (not like we go there 2 or 3 x a day or anything). SO finally I buy one.... now to get the old plastic base OFF the mop, uh yea, three or four cusswords and a razor blade in hand, I finally get the old part off and insert the new pretty yellow and blue mophead. Yeahh! Umm sure. Well, long story short (not! sorry) the kitchen and diningroom floors are all shiny and beautiful for at least 2 hours until the kids start to roll in from school.

Oh and did I mention it rained today? ( 4 kids + 1 dog + 2 cats + 1 hubby = you know but you don't want to say it do you?)
Darla

Happy Monday - S'mores - and more....

Quick Monday HELLO to all of you readers (whoever you are?) . Had a busy yet slow weekend and feel rejuvinated if that counts for anything. Got some yardwork done, housework, laundry, all that "Fun" stuff. We went to see Shrek 3 at the theater Sat night , cute movie... I liked it alot. Sunday we lazied around, I made a nice big dinner for our returning worker boy Chris and invited his girlfriend over to share. We had creamy chicken enchiladas and spanish rice with white corn chips and salsa. Mmmmmmm! For an after dinner treat, we went out on the deck and roasted marshmellows in the new fire pit and made s'mores....yum! It was fun.

Not too much going on this week, or so I think righ tnow. Kids last week of school.... then the chaos begins. Can't wait. (sarcasim noted please)

OK off and running. Going to go help a friend pick out a hot tub for the cabin up in Island Park! Coolness.......

cya!
Darla

HoHum Weekend Plans and a Prize!

What a gloooooomy afternoon. Usually I am all pumped up when my kids are all fished out to friends and neighbors on the weekends, because that means we get a peaceful and fun time out as parents with OUR friends, Blake and Lisa. This weekend will not happen that way. Bummer. Blake and Lisa bought this cabin up in Island Park...a "fixer upper" kind of thing. So, now they are spending their weekends up there (hr and 1/2 drive) working on the remodel of the cabin and leaving us with no adult entertainment.... *sigh*. So, our oldest ds Chris, he is up there with them working this weekend (he works for them 4x a week normally anyway) and then Dani is off with her friend for the weekend... Tiff will be gone all this evening babysitting and we just have lil' Micheal man here. You'd think we could come up with SOMETHING to keep us out of total boredom? or not?

Thing is, we have spent pretty much 90% of our weekends with our friends for the past several years. We dont' have other friends! LOL No, just joking, we have tons of friends, just not ones like them. It is going to be a loooong summer I fear! We will be going up there a few weekends ourselves, but not right now. I think mid-June we'll take the kids up for a family weekend and that will be fun, but for now, I am sort of feeling lost! I know! Crazy isn't it? I just enjoy their company and friendship so much... they are great friends, love them a lot and appriciate the humor and fun times we share. Bummer...

Today was a do nothing but do lots sort of day. Got the house cleaned up, ran a few errands, even made it to the YMCA this morning bright and early with Ed for a workout. So I don't know why I feel like nothing got done? LOL Oh, the trash came today and our baby guy Micheal took all the trash out to the curb ALL by himself... without even being asked! I was so shocked! What a lil' sweetheart he is! The other day he unloaded the dishwasher too, just to suprize me! Wow!

OK so now I am just babbling.....guess I'll head out, but I did want to share a photo. A few weeks ago I won a Blog contest given by our LSS owner and CK HOF'r Sherelle Christiansen, and this is the prize........LOVE all the cool BoBunny and Fiskars thing she included but that sweet green canvas bag with the giant grommets....ohh to die for cute!

HUGS, have a great weekend, spend it with someone you enjoy! ;O) Darla

LOOK UP!!!!!

How TOTALLY COOL is that new banner up top there?? Thank you Thank you to my dearest buddy Robin for her creative genius and computer savy ways! THANK YOU ROBIN! Isn't that just the cutest! Oh- and she took that super adoreable photo of my baby boy Micheal too... oh so talented! Mmmwah! Luv ya Robin!

Busy day today, running kids, cleaning house, catching up laundry, all that "Mom" stuff. Had a good day though. Fighting what I think is allergies and making me a bit run down and sluggish but not feeling really bad at all? Weird. I am sure I'll live. :O)

Not sure what is all on agenda for the w/end but I'm sure we'll make the most of it! Never a dull moment around here. Only 1 more week of school.... oye! Scary times ahead! Loving the sunshine and warm weather though and that is just the tip of the good stuff that comes with summertime!

Having a good "weight" week... working out, eating pretty good, feeling confident. Have my measure day coming up too. That is always encouraging even if the weigh in days are not! LOL

OK off to watch the season finale of E.R. Make it a good one!
Darla

SO SO SO CLOSE!

First off, let me say that Ed is STILL floating high on a cloud since getting his new bike.... he and the kids are having a blast with it and someday (soon?) maybe he'll coax me into getting on for a ride with him.... (or not?). Chris won't go for a ride either, but not sure what HIS aprehensions are about? Mine, well, let's just say I have a "goal" before I'll go along for a ride. he he he

OK so talking about goals - I am SO stinking close to a big one! I am just a couple pounds shy of FINALLY reaching my 50 lb weight loss goal. It has been a very very long time coming... some days I think I am nuts to keep trying because the process is so slow, but seeing the results and feeling as good as I do, well, I will keep going. I have to! So cheer me on folks.... 50 is SO stinking close I can just feel it!!! The cool part is that I am well over 1/3 of the way there for my total goal and that makes it seem so much more awesome to me too!

On that note, I had a GREAT workout at the "Y" this a.m. and feel really generated and pumped up! Have been shaking my workout up a bit and adding things, limiting times on some others but all together I feel GREAT! Love going there.... best thing that has happened to our family in a VERY VERY LONG time!

Make it a GREAT day!

Darla

Happy Mother's Day and a SUPRIZE!

Here is wishing you Mom's out there a VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! Just a quick post today to tell you all I hope it is a good one and to share a couple pictures! This morning after Church I had the kids take a photo of Ed and I and although I am seriously not looking happy, I was in a great mood!! Just had the wind blowing in my face and hair and squinting looking at the camera! Look at us!! TWO skinny chickens! Whoo whoo!

Then I had to share Ed's big news too.... he FINALLY got the bike of his dreams! We have gone through a few years of this, dirt bikes, road bikes, he has "settled" a couple of times but finally broke down this weekend and got the one he REALLY wanted most! It is a 2000 Yamaha VStar and not only is it a hot lookin' bike, it is PURPLE! Oh yea! (OK purple and red, but hey....) So he is a very happy boy right now. I will show more photos later on that! So cool though don't you think?

Well, I have had a pretty dang good Mother's Day so far. Ed got me a great lamp for my desk/ scrapbook area so I can SEE what I am doing now (you have no idea....)!!! The kids got me some fun scrappy supplies, papers, lettering and so on. I am set! Going to sit my lil' butt down here today and C R E A T E!

One last thing to share........ yest I was reading another Blog, by Ali Edwards, and she posted a list of great little quotes from a magazine she'd read. This one really popped out to me and I wanted to share it too.

"You don't have to have a PERFECT body to feel great in it"

Cheers!

Darla

You're so vain..... I'll bet you think this blog is about you, don't you?

Well, I am trying this again (for Tammy) as I had the wrong picture (sorry girl). So, the b&w photos are from last year sometime, I think it was spring 2006, again, taken by the very talented Robin :O) Then the infamous "pink" self portrait taken about a month ago. NOW I do in fact see a difference..... look at my CHINS!!!!!!!!! EEECK! Thanks Tammy for pointing this major difference out to me, keeping me encouraged to go go go!

HUGS
Darla

For Tammy........ thanks sis!

Well, I don't see it (not in these photos anyway) but my sweet sis in law emailed me and told me I needed to post these pix side to side to see the difference in my face. The b&w one was taken in Dec for Christmas by my dearest friend Robin and the color one was a few weeks ago (self portrait even LOL). Again, I don't see a huge difference myself, but hey, I won't shrug off a compliment that fast!!!!!

Cheers! D

Today is a good day to...

Make a choice. Yes, I think today I will choose to take the kids to the park, water my flowers, visit with a friend. Oh yea, and today I will set a new goal. NOT to look like that! Ha ha like I have a choice in the matter really? But seriously, after talking with a friend for a long time today, I considered some of my health/life options and with the changes I am making someday I will actually reach my goals for weight loss and fitness and then what? I do not want to become obsessive compulsive and turn into a bean pole.

OK what this really boils down to is this: I have made the choice to lose weight and get fit. So far so good, right? Slow but good. Eventually I WILL in fact reach my goal but will I be satisfied? Or will I turn into some crazed fitness nut who eats granola and beans and finds that anything larger than a size 0 1/2 is too big? I doubt that either of those things will happen.... but I want to be aware of where I am and what is going on. Right now I feel like I am at a huge turning point in my health changes. I feel as if healthier eating is now a part of who we are. I feel as if I have made fitness and working out a priority and made it an integral part of who I am now. I think I have those things down and as long as I keep with them the weight will continue to come off. (fingers crossed) I don't have a magic pill to help me and I am doing what the gu-ru's say is the right thing so eventually I will in fact get down to a good ideal weight. Right? So, now I have to sit back and say to myself, after having 4 children and being overweight for as long as I have been, what is a reasonable expectation for myself? What weight or size will I be satisfied with? And what will I do once I am there to keep myself at that level and not either gain back a bunch or turn myself into the crazy lady in the photo above? LOTS to think about and lots of goal setting to be happening.

D

Another day in paradise?

Here we are, Tuesday already? Wow... the days go by so fast. Today is supposed to be a SUNNY WARM day here in Idaho and we are supposed to be getting temps as high as the mid 70's... yippee! I think I may go lay down out on the kids trampolene and catch some sun today! LOL

Photo here to the side, this is my nephew Ted and my baby boy Micheal on Sunday after the first soccer game. It is so cool to see these two interact as Ted is sort of my "first baby" since I lived with my sis and her family after H.S. and took care of him when he was born. Now Ted graduates from H.S. in just a couple of weeks and I am blown away at what an awesome young man he has become! He is looking at going to college on soccer scholarships and right now is "wanted" by a school in Kansas City. Amazingly cool.

Big agenda this week: Baby sitting. HA HA serious! I am babysitting every day this week for either my friend or my sister and thank goodness all these boys are Micheal's age so they can entertain one another! Other than that, it is housework, laundry, yardwork, running taxi for the older kids...........all that fun stuff. I cannot wait for the weekend to arrive so we can have our Sat night "date" with our friends. This is my saving grace to each week! OH and this weekend is also the boys Father Son Campout for Church... so Ed, Chris and Micheal will be heading off Friday afternoon and Sat morning for that. Need to figure out something fun to do Fri night while they are gone- hmmm

In other news. Actually, this is the BIG news today. The gal that Ed works with that I will be babysitting for this summer is in the hospital having her little baby boy RIGHT NOW! I got a call from Ed early this a.m. (while I was at the gym) and he said she is in labor as we spoke! So cool! I can't wait to see the lil' guy.......so excited about this!

I forgot to "report" here yesterday about my weigh in for this week. I am happy to say that I have gotten off those horrible "sick lbs" I gained and I am now at my all time lowest since starting this all last August!!!! I am going on 9 months now and cannot believe how great I feel! I am a bit discouraged, no, angry with myself if more like it... I have been working out so hard and so consistantly yet I can't seem to gain any momentum. I have not been able to increase my speed or endurance with walking and it is very much a downer to me. I started back up on the weights (after the stomach issues) and my muscles are very sore, almost 'weak' so I know that as far as the ellypt machine and bike goes, that is why I am struggling there, but the walking should be getting easier and easier yet it never does? I dont' get it!!!! Grrr. Anyway, I am happy the lbs are coming off and really should not complain at all, right?

OK Off and running.....have a GREAT day!

D

Soccer Crazies are gone - sniff sniff

Well, we survived the "Soccer Crazies" big blowout weekend once again. Looks like this will be the last time too... my nephew and most of his team all graduate from HS in a few weeks and this team will be done. I am really bummed, I have enjoyed these tournements and visits so much and they will be missed. As a matter of fact, when they left today, several of them were headed to Montana to check out a college there....... oh man, when did I get so old? Geesh!

Well, the tournament went great! The boys played their hearts out, in blizzarding snow and warm sunshine, high winds, and even some rain. Good ol' Idaho Falls weather..... ha ha ha! They took 2nd in the tournament for their age bracket and they did FAB! The finals game today was a ROUGH AND TOUGH team from Billings, MT and they gave them a serious run for their money. Our boys held on tight but lost in the end..... no one was too upset though bc they had a helluva game and gave a valiant fight till' the whistle blew! We had a couple great games that we won and a tie and then this final which we lost. Not shabby at all if you ask me! GO BLUE!!!!!!

I posted a few pix here to show you how much fun we had! ENJOY! Oh and happy weekend!!!! Somehow I missed Cinco d'Mayo AND even Natl' Scrapbook Day due to all the party and soccer but hey, what you won't do for family, right? The red/white game my nephew Ted is in the center of the photo in white (blonde hair) ... in the blue photo , the boy #14 is our lil' sweetheart Fernando- this kid is an inspiration and a 1/2!! He comes from quite a family, but his big story is that he had had some major eye problems and about a yr ago had cornea transplants and has just done amazing. He is a POWER HOUSE of a soccer player and when his vision was at like 10% he could outrun, outplay and outpower just about anyone.......well, now that he can SEE and has some depth perception, well, he is AMAZING! We just love this kid to bits...the most polite, kind, sweet person you would ever meet. So cool. darla

GO RAPIDS!

GO RAPIDS! GO!
GO RAPIDS! GO!

Yes, the soccer crazies are here, all is well. More updates later (with photos!) and wish us luck! We are going to the finals today at 2:00 pm!

Let the chaos commence!!!!

OK First off, let me say that these 2 boys think they are WAY TOO COOL for words.... my oldest son Chris (in the jeans) and our nephew Jake (in khakis) had to play Joe Cool for photos when they visited us over Spring Break. These boys have grown up close... even though they live far apart. They are the 2 oldest grandchildren on hubby's side of the family, they were both born in June of 91' and we have watched them mark milestone after milestone in sequence.....it is so cool. Hard to believe they will be SIXTEEN YEARS OLD in June!!! YIKES! Anyway, they think they are too cool - yea, whatever boys. hee hee!

And on the subject of cool teenage boys....... the chaos shall commence today at aproximatly 7:00 pm. The "SOCCER CRAZIES" are coming today!!!!!!!!! If you recall from last year, my sister from Twin Falls is a soccer crazy family. Their baby son who is nearly 18 will be here in Idaho Falls for a big Shoot Out Tourney this weekend and we host them in our home. We will have 2 adults and about 4-6 boys staying with us and then my other sister will house the coach, another set of parents and a couple more boys. Yes, we are in fact nuts.... but we will have fun anyway! What a hoot! So, if you don't "see" me around for a couple days that is why. In the meantime today, I have ooooooodles and oooooooooodles of housework and prep to do before they all get here! We will have a big BBQ tonight and then games tommorrow.... and tommorrow night a big Pasta Feast and depending on how they play the games we'll see what Sunday brings! FUN TIMES! Oh, and send some good weather mojo to us....we are expecting winds and possible rain (boo hoo).

OK off and running.... tons to do! OH and one little positive note to share: I am down all that wieght I gained while I was sick and missing the gym. I have one little lb to get off by Monday and I just know with all the running we'll do this weekend it will so not be a problem! YEAH!!!!

HUGS and have a great weekend!

Darla

Playing "catch up" - some things to share....

OK so this is a "jumble" of photos.... but I needed to catch up on things. LOL So here goes:

We have Tiffany with the Easter Bunny at the WalMart Easter Egg Hunt

Then there is Ed and Micheal on the Go-Cart on Easter Sunday ( the guy in the back is our oldest son's girlfriends brother and the owner of that go-cart which he crashed later in the week and crushed his hand badly... awaiting surgery for a bone/skin graft- poor kid!)

There are 2 pix of me on here, the one in pink was just a dang good photo of me (at least I think so) and I wanted to share it... it was before I had the two weeks of icky sickies and we were going on a date night, I thought I looked hot so I took some pix of myself! LOL The other photo of me in the black is when I got my hair cut and styled last week - the photo stinks as I had a 6 yr old take it for me, but I also was quite wind blown by this time too... so it looks better now than it did that day, but you get the idea.

The last photo is a silly. This is Ed and his younger sister from Oregon.......they came (she and her kids) over Spring Break to visit and we had to get some silly pix of them. What a couple of weirdos!

I have more pix to share but I'll string them out over the next few days I guess. Until then, behave and have fun.

Darla!

WAY TO GO MOM!!!!! WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!!!

WOW! Can you believe all of this for little ol' me?? Oh yes, my family "got" me big time yesterday! I only have a few pictures here, the van, of course I had to share, the cute balloons, and streamers in the trees..... I missed getting a pix of the cake before it got demolished, but you see the purple frosting there......... right? OK so what in the name of Sam Heck was going on? OK, take a seat, here is the story. (hold on, it is a long ride)

Ahh hemm

back in Sept of 1999 I had to go get my drivers license renewed. I went into the DMV, paid with a check and left with my new ID for the next four years. Well, during the course of that period of time we went through some really major family issues (bad stuff to say the least) and somehow , unbeknownst to us, apparently the check I'd written to renew my license did not clear the bank. So flash forward a couple of years, ok like almost 5 years... I go in again to renew my license (summer of 2004) and it has been exp for a few months but you have a full yr to renew without having to test again. I go in to do this and find that apparently mine had been suspended back in 1999 when the check orig did not clear. WHAT? So they tell me I cannot get a new license and have to go through all this rig-a-ma-roar to do it. I was SO upset! So, I got a state ID card and left. Well, long story short, I was a big fat chicken poo and was scared to death to take the tests or do anything..... until now. (yes, almost 3 yrs later) Well, I broke down, took the tests (both written and driving) and passed them BOTH with flying colors and my family, and friends, well, they were ummmm HAPPY?? To say the very very least, yes, they were happy! So, after I went to the DMV yesterday morning and got a new license (that is good for 8 FULL YEARS)( and paid cash for it too ;O) they decided a celebration was in order! When I came home last night that (the photos) is what I drove up to in our yard!!! DO YOU LOVE IT OR WHAT???? We had a blast, cake and went out to dinner( they made me drive the van too!!)... decorations ALL over the place, streamers and posters and banners were all over outside the house and in! I felt so special (and goofy too)!!!! Our closest friends, Blake and Lisa, and their kids were all here too! I was just cracking up big time. So....... now that the celebration is over, just remember, if your license is about to expire - go take care of it immediatly (and take cash!) LOL Darla