Thought I'd post last year's frolic just to get in the mood--JenGi (GiGi) is gonna make the big bad 3 hour trek up to Lee's Summit weekend after next. Why? Cause it's her BIRTHDAY!! I told her we'd be doing a little DDR..and she asked if that was something digiscrapping. Am I the ONLY mom on the planet who did not get a Wii Fit this year? Some of use have to work out with PS2, Dance Dance Revolution. I'm getting better, too--10% correct so far. Beat that, JenGi. Yeah, I'm challenging you.
Seem Facebook has exploded over the last couple of weeks--I've gotten in touch with so many long lost faces and am truly enjoying that. Can't believe 16 years ago I didn't have a computer, didn't need one--and I was hoping I'd get a cordless phone from Dad for Christmas so I didn't have to stretch the cord from one room to the next to pull a child out of the toilet or give them a quick 'take your naps NOW' look. I got the phone. And from that point on I could do the look, pull a kid out of the toilet AND do the full throttle arms flailing point ...you know, the one that says 'Mommy means NOWWWW'.
Jan 6, 2009
Ten Days 'Til GiGi Time! And Facebook Me
Apr 13, 2008
Camera Critters--Premiere Edition
Ohhh I'm late late late getting this up, but I still want to play in Misty's Camera Critters meme so badly, I'm posting anyway!
I was going to put Louie up the first week, but when I went digging for some good photos (never a bad picture when you're Louie), I found these. This is Niki's cat, GiGi, hanging out with the dog statue my late father gave me for Christmas one year. He thought it looked a lot like our Cairn Terrier, Buttons, so he had to have this! I keep it up high and safe now--actually I treasure it. However at the time, I'm embarrassed to admit I was a little bummed. I was a teenager, and I really wanted a gift certificate or something fun like that. Now I'm eternally grateful my dad thought of something meaningful--the skirt I wanted wouldn't be here anymore and I wouldn't have remembered it.
Okay, enough about the dog---here's our foofy little princess kitty, GiGi, hanging out with us in the kitchen (freaked me out the first time Boo got up there!):
If you want to play, even this late, you still can. Head over to Misty's and grab a button...oh! and Happy Camera Critters! Alright...off to do a little more PowerPoint fun and hopefully get some more coordination going on in this blog! What made me think I could do so much at once?!
Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification
Feb 1, 2008
Birthday Dinner, My Little Heart and A Game of Tag. Even I'm Worn Out Now!
Well Cat and I didn't get down to Hillbilly Holler to hang out with coffee filter birthday hats, Aunt Bea, Jen Gi and song. But that didn't stop Cat and I from having an early dinner tonight anyway. Her birthday is Sunday, so it was kinda my treat to her. I have to say I completely enjoyed this dinner, it's been far too long since Cat and I have had time to just sit and chat without kids or husbands hanging around. Kids and husbands are good, though. Just sometimes they're so amazing we don't feel we DESERVE to be around them so much, so we suffered.
The photos I have kinda stink, but the one of Cat is so pretty I think it almost makes up for her half face in the next one! And I'm being quite a good sport, because I don't know what the hey hoo (JenGi, I stole that!) was going on with my hair there! It looks a little Ed Grimley-ish..now I wonder if I left the house like this or if it just happened in the parking lot. Thanks for the mention, Cat. Not!
Onto something very cool--Angela at Mommy Bytes, being a talented knitter had a giveaway. She knitted these little hearts and I really really wanted one. I'd all but forgotten about it when she emailed me last week that I'd won one. It arrived in the mail and it's so cute I now think I have to re-learn to knit. I kinda sorta learned years ago, but knitting wasn't cool then. There are so many fun things out there now, I have to jump on that bandwagon. Angela, thanks, I heart this prize!
Finally, my friend Katja tagged me with this--how fun it this one I ask? Here is low down:
Rule #1: Copy all the links below and replace a single link under the appropriate letter of the alphabet. If your domain name, or even the title of your blog, starts with an “A,” you’d replace the link under that letter and put the replaced link at the bottom. Also, don’t forget to credit the tagger, or where you got the list from, at the end of the list with a full URL of the post, so that a pingback gets generated.
D. DadThing.com
E. everythingandanythingblog.com
H. happykeg.comI. ipentimento.com
R. rowdigrl.com
V. valmg.com
Y. yimto.com
Replaced link: Julie's Journal
Previous tagger: Skimbaco-Katja
Rule #2: You now have to “tag” at least five people and encourage them to participate so that this thing spreads like a virus. But not a virus. No no, not a virus. That would be wrong.
I'm tagging:
Jan 30, 2008
Louie's Turn
So it was a shock to my system as I arrived home to 19 degrees and snow blowing furiously, the wind so strong that it was a challenge staying on the road. That's the Missouri I've grown over my lifetime to love. Windows open one day, furnace and fire burning the next.
By popular demand, I have some Louie photos to share. Will this make Misty happy? I think yes. Even though Jack Jack the cat is every bit the love dovey wovey baby Louie is. Don't get me wrong, I ADORE the Lou. I'll tell the story of Louie very soon, it's actually a funny little adoption story.
Louie! He's a good boy. Even if he is now deaf, digs under the muddy deck every single time he goes out, forcing me to dip his giant bear-sized paws in water before letting him in, needs out four times an hour, gets snot all over the dining room window he camps out at, and makes a louder-than-life barfing sound and nothing comes out.
He's getting old. Not too old to to chase the cats. Two nights ago we woke up and flung our bedroom door open, having heard some very noisy intruders (we were brave). No intruders, but we did find Louie. Lying at the foot of the stairs in Jack's nylon cube house thing, one short stubby leg and giant horse head through one hole, body in the middle and three legs through the other hole. See diagram below:
He'd creeped upstairs, likely to eat the cats' food (he does that) and torment poor Jack, who sleeps with Alex most nights. So when he found himself stuck, he was heading downstairs to get us and slipped and slid down the stairs. The nylon made his run quite smooth and very fast. He slid all the way down, taking out a basket of Lego's on the way, landing at the bottom of the stairs next to our bedroom door with a thud. And not a yelp from him; he didn't even look afraid. He knew the drill, we've pulled his giant head from many things over the four years we've been blessed with Louie's big giant slobbery stinky lovable self.
Alright enough Louie stories, here is where I found the older boys yesterday afternoon, both drooling oblivious to the whipping wind and snow outside (I am aware on days like this that God has blessed me greatly with shelter and warmth and I worry for the people and animals alike who are out there without):
*I'm not going to have any JenGi, Aunt Bea, Cat & Gidget photos next week. I'm afraid I had to cancel (I'm calling you today Cat, but sorry if you get this through my post). John and I feel with the ever-changing drama going on with our daughter, it's not a good time for me to leave town.
Jan 17, 2008
It's All About The Trophy Case Smile!
Shana gave me a job to do the other day. I get to accept a very happy award, the You Make Me Smile! award. Merci, Shana! Vous me faites sourire aussi, la petite amie! The other day when I read this, I snapped a quick acceptance shot. As you can see, I'm not at all prideful about it. And as always quite excited to build up the trophy case humbled by this award!
Jan 15, 2008
Jen/Gi, Your Dog Does Her Heyhoo In Your Purse? What's The Deal-io?
Jen/Gi, aka GiGi at Girl Gone Wild turned For A Good Time Call, has a friend, Ms. Wrong Can't Be Right. She (Ms. CBW) emailed this song to me today and I spit my Tab all over the keyboard singing it. (Waste of perfectly good Tab!) This is so so so the essence of our beloved Jen/Gi, so I have permission to rip this off--thank you Ms. Can't Be sounds like Aunt Bea!
Back in her wild-child days we knew her as Gigi. Technically, she'll always be a wild-child but in a good way -- not the way her old blog Girl Gone Wild would lead one to believe.In 2008, my dear friend (and yours, too) turned a page in her book of life and started a brand new blog. Jen's very own 867-5309.But what would we call her?
.
Dec 14, 2007
VOTE Time!
Okay I JUST now heard about a fun Christmas photo contest Karen is hosting! And....I knew right away I had a good photo to enter! I'm entering the photo from last week, our Christmas Lights of KC Tour '08--with Cat, GiGi and myself.
**Go love on GiGi today--it's been a difficult week.
Dec 10, 2007
Cat, Gidget, GiGi...Part Two!
Update: I have things I need to post but.....I refuse to post another thing. I was just on the phone with GiGi (who really does exist even though it's looking doubtful), and explained how her blogging absence makes me look...well, like a weird-o stalking blogger mom who imagined the whole weekend! Who may have copied and pasted photos to appear as if I have a friend named GiGi. She laughs at this because she's been thinking y'all will think that too as she's been out running all over town and not blogging!
So not until the Gi says she had fun (and Gi, I mean FUNNNN) will I post again. She had fun, I'm telling you....fun fun fun with a capital FUN!
We went to Fritz's at Hallmark's Crown Center Friday. Fritz's serves dinner via a toy train that runs the entire restaurant and stops, delivers the meals (which were ordered at the booth on a phone!) and goes away. Then we played on the giant toys...sadly it was freezing cold this year, so we didn't play too long!
This weekend went by far too quickly for me, I miss everyone already. I can't wait to get in Cat's new Suburban and drive down to GiGi's. *sigh*
Click the video for all the pics from the second night:
Worth another peek:
Cat, Gidget at Fritz's
GiGi, J waiting for dinner...think J forgot what to do with the straw!
Trinity, I adore my bag...all the way from Indonesia. You truly are a very special friend and I adore you! And the bag, the necklace and the CD!
Do you see a pattern here with Gi & her tongue?
It's a cow, I know...Cat's modeling on a cow. Hey! We are in MO!
Dec 8, 2007
GiGi, Cat & Gidget, Part One:
It's been a quiet day today..this morning our home was filled with laughter, a last minute rush to get in conversations, and then as quickly as they came, they left. GiGi and her family slid away on the freshly fallen sheet of ice. I miss her already. She's incredibly easy to talk to, I selfishly want her to sell it all and move up here to the Kansas City area. Right now.
Some of you might know that Cat and GiGi are the first two friends I made when I began blogging. Cat lives very close by, goes to the same church, and is a very dear friend I see quite a lot of. But Gi lives a few hours south, so I haven't seen her since our whirlwind hour at Silver Dollar City this summer.
As I go through the pictures, I realize to tell it right, it's going to take two, possibly three posts. If I did it in one, you'd be bored to tears, and that would be no good at all! Nope...so part one right here.
GiGi landing on our porch just after our first measurable snow arrived, which was very cool because we went through the Christmas In The Park lights display the first night, and those lights look so much more amazing in the snow. If you can take a look at GiGi's smile and find you're NOT smiling back, you might need to look into that. It's just not possible--she's that adorable.
When the lovely Cat and her family arrived, we downed some pizza and got ready for Christmas Tour Part One! We split up, guys & kids car and ladies car! Before we took off, though, we took the traditional shoe pic....
GiGi's little boys, Little Man and Gremlin, cannot be done justice if I tried. But I will try to tell you how adorable and extremely polite they were. John and I got a kick out of both of them...it's been awhile since we've had little guys that young around. They are little treasures. I don't recall ever meeting children so excited about being here, which made it just that much more fun for us. So after the lights, Cat and her fam headed for home and GiGi was good for about ten more minutes, lol. You can literally watch the sleepiness overtake her eyes, it's like a switch turns her off right in front of you!
I've got so many photos of the next night, so I'm going to just slam you with them tomorrow. I'll give you a teaser photo, though...our meals were delivered by a train. And we wore little train hats. And we like our train hats. A lot.
Dec 4, 2007
Got A Crappy Christmas Gift? I Can Help With That!
| You Are a Self Help Book! |
 While your advice is not always welcome... It's always right on target. |
don't forget only six left to enter Deck The Blogs--there are some very fun entries, spend a few minutes over there with a mug of cocoa! And a candy cane. Got to have the candy cane!Nov 30, 2007
Christmas Crafts On A Dime--Or With What's In Your Cabinet...
I didn't expect to be away from the blog for so longgggg, and I'm sorry. I'll be back in a day or two, I've probably missed some great posts, so I'll be up awhile tomorrow reading like mad!
I've been involved in something I'm excited about, I'll be back to tell you all about it soon. In the meantime, I happened across a nice little craft site, I think Cat, GiGi, and I will sit down and do some holiday crafting next week. What d'ya think of the lights?:
And if you're looking for something just right for that special little boy in your life, maybe try this:
Is this what I think it is, you ask? Yes, probably. There is an entire site dedicated to the ladies time craft. Check it out, maybe make an angel for the tree.
GiGi, get excited--and bring the supplies, will ya?
And to my dear friend, "Poirier" got your message. And yes, I've been praying all day long, and I know you'll perservere. We all walk some pretty worn out and lonely paths in our lifetimes, and you're going to come out of this one. I'm calling you tomorrow, because Savannah girls are a tight group, we're going to get together. And besides, Savannah girls had a wild streak, too; it's a great excuse to cruise for Christmas decorations. KIDDING! (but that was one very funny night back in...what, 84, 85? Are we that old? No way!) This song's for you.
Nov 27, 2007
Let The Countdown Begin......(I'd Better Start Cleaning)
GiGi & the fam are loading up the wooden fammobile and driving up from
GiGi, I'm so excited for you to be here I might clean the fridge out for you. It's only been a year, but I'll do it anyway!
Don't forget to throw your name into the hat at Deck The Blogs. It's officially in full swing and I intend to spend some hours over the next few days lurking at the lights and pictures--so grab a button for your sidebar, enter, then have a cup of eggnog and a sugar cookie with all the other Christmas decorating bloggers! I can do that--I promised Marie I would stay off the editor over there for awhile. Apparently I kept erasing the linky and she kept replacing it...finally figured out it was me. Ooops, sorry girlfriend!
Nov 18, 2007
Jungle Love...By Definition
***Edit: Just in case you stuck around long enough to hear the Red Neck Days of Christmas song, sorry sorry sorry! I didn't know there were two versions..and this may or may not have had some, ehh, not so festive thoughts. How could I know? Isn't Redneck Christmas a classic? Still...sorry!!
Please ignore my mess, I'm redecorating for Christmas--and Gi, guess which way I'm going with it?!
I don't do this often--heck I'm not sure I've ever done this. My BFF GiGi has written a post over at Girl Gone Wild about monkeys and it's so dang good I had to link it up. No monkey business, just a monkey story from Gi. Of course. We all have our monkey stories, right? Puts a new light on the little widdle cuddly wuddly monkeys at the zoo that I adore!
Nov 16, 2007
The Stacey Recipe
| Staceyyy - 2 heaping tablespoons of playfulness - a gallon of confidence - a scoop of sensitivity Combine in a blender until smooth. | |
| 'What is your personality recipe?' at QuizGalaxy.com | |
Nov 5, 2007
Did I Win? Or Didn't I Win?.......
I was getting worried....I was feeling sad...I was down down down this weekend. I hadn't won a darn thing. I'm hearing all about the wins my friends had, I'm happy for everyone....but still the little girl in me is saying "What about me? It Isn't Fair. I've Had Enough Now I Want My Share!". All those click and comment drunken days that left me worn out, tired and excited like a little kid at Christmas! And nothing. (Alright, I didn't really say that, but it sounds very cool, like I'm all worn out, hair whipping in the wind, a whisp of myself, driven to despair.) Until.....yesterday. That's when SarahJensSister announced the winner of the big one! I even REMEMBER thinking 'gosh this would be so cool...need that'!
Here's what I win (If you didn't win and you like hair product, don't look, it'll hurt far too much):
1 6.8 fl. oz. extrabody Paul Mitchell Thicken Up Styling Liquid
1 4.2 fl. oz. Vavoom Gold Heat Blow-In Volume Protective Lotion
1 5.1 fl. oz. JOICO Silk Result Thermal Smoother
1 8 fl. oz. designline Wave Catcher Beach Spray
1 8 fl. oz. Kenra Root Lifting Spray
I'll post the photos of my hair before and after, did you even think I wouldn't?! And Sarah, thanks, this is a very generous giveaway. And because of that, I found another fun blog, I'll be over later. GiGi, if you're reading, you can borrow my product when you're here visiting. And don't take it personally if I need to search your carry-on when you leave. Cat, you too--no big purses when you, Gigi and I are doing our hair for our Plaza tour next month. You're still going to dance for us, right? And lip-sync? And Dawn, when you do get down here in your brand new RV, I'll share with you too. And I know you won't take mine because you're wealthy now--you're the lucky!!!! You can bring us all more! Go Dawn..Go Dawn...It's Your Birthday....
Oct 11, 2007
December Is JUST Around The Bend.....And GiGi Is Coming!
Just awhile ago I stumbled upon a new blog , Gremlin Wrangler, (new to me, that is) and she is doing a contest. Not just ANY contest, though, she's an artist. And I couldn't resist this one, I entered it! She takes photos and sketches amazing likenesses of the person in the photo and I know JUST who I'll have sketched. I love personalized things at Christmastime--there's about nothing better. She's pretty funny too, mosey over there if you're a loser on a Friday night, sitting around reading blogs. Okay, I'm a loser sitting around too, but still....go over!
This is the Country Club Plaza here in Kansas City in the Christmas season, all lit up!
And this is the courtyard at Hallmark's Crown Center at Christmas, with the ice skating rink in the background. Note the wooden toyland down there?
Yup, that'd be the one I posted pics of a few months ago, with us last December playing in the toy yard and dining in the train car.
Oct 8, 2007
GiGi Wanted To See My Beaver Book....
This is just all wrong that I am resigned to posting the cover of a homeschool book to prove my point (GiGi). Shame shame shame. Good thing you're not a pastor's wife....But alas, I find I have no other choice, I present to you:
If you need me, Gi, you can call my cell--I will be on a field trip with my daughter (and Alex) at the Kansas City Zoo--nothing finer than 100 12th graders in mixed company on a bus, then at the zoo....mmmMMM nothing beats the prospect! (help me)
Oct 7, 2007
What's Your Week About?
I've been working on this digital scrapbook concept and it's taking far longer than I anticipated! I have scanned several photos, mostly Nicole, because this is for her graduation album. I've decided I'm not good at the physical concept of scrap booking, so I'm doing it digitally.
This week coming up is going to be interesting. Alex and I are taking the week off school because there are three diving meets, a school field trip with Niki, a meeting for homeschoolers, the usual Wednesday night study, Friday night and a new study we're doing at church for six weeks....and Niki's 18th birthday!
I've been thinking on this concept--my daughter is going to be 18. What does this mean? Well....at seventeen she pretty much could take off and leave and we couldn't do anything about it! At seventeen kids can leave the home and not come back if they're staying out of trouble. Problem with that is if they do get into trouble, it's back home they come. And if they wanna come back, we have to let them in!
So Niki, being clever as she is, points out that she will be 18 and can make her own decisions. I pause on this. And then I tell her this: "yes, baby you can. That's so cute. You can leave now, but then again, you could leave last year, remember, we had this conversation? Difference is this time--Mommy can lock the door behind you!" Booyah! Or however that's spelled. Yeah, who's thinking now? I think she'll hang in there for another year, lol.
Hoping to spend a little quality time with my Cat friend--we need to have a coffee break together and I'm nevah too busy for coffee. Cat--I have DD coffee here, too, so just TRY and turn that down! We can prank call GiGi. She'll like that. What d'ya think? Circle Yes if you will come and No if you won't. 
