NGM and CTP

Please resume posting.....our blogging circle has become much too quiet lately and your postings always completely crack me up. Please.....

Day 23: This magic moment

Today's picture is the magic moment of

my wonderful hubby coming home from work!!! :) :)

Oh, Wendi.......

Well, Southern Belle, you missed our very important "Solicitation for the Board Break" meeting this evening! If I remember correctly, Eaglescout/Jimmy volunteered you for this duty. Don't worry, I'll share some of my places with you if you want to be solicitous...... :) :) :) In other news, I signed up to teach a WOY Karate Kid class on Thursday, August 7, at 6:OO. Are you interested in helping me out, pretty please???

Here are the pics you requested of the school after SC and I got finished with it on Sunday afternoon:

We've missed you up here and we're looking forward to your return! Drive safely!!

Day 22: Splish Splash

Today's picture is, again, made possible by Camron. He is my artist, my creative one. When we re-did our family room a year and a half ago, we needed some new artwork for above the tv. Since Cam had provided us with decor in other rooms, we decided to see if we could commission another of his paintings. On a rather cold, winter day, the garage was turned into an art studio, and Cam had a blast splash painting the canvases that we had painted to match the trim. (By the way, the inside of my garage is now splash painted in spots as well :)

Days 20 & 21: Sparkle and Spiral

Yesterday's word was "sparkle". Although I didn't post it, I did take the picture. My neighbor put up a "white trash pool" (as he calls it) and all of the kids spent yesterday jumping and swimming and just hanging out in it. Here's Cam making all of the water droplets "sparkle" in the sunshine with his amazing jump.

Today's word is "spiral" and I have to give a huge shout out to Cam and all of his puppies for letting me use them for my picture. After I got home from taekwondo this evening, I limpingly placed some of his puppies in a spiral while trying to balance a bag of ice on my toe. I'm sure I looked way cool. Anyway, when I called Cam up to look at my masterpiece he said, "I hope you know that I'm not putting all of those away!"

Day 19: Relief

This is my illegitimate, adopted, half-
brother, Buck. We pretty much always had a dog (or two) while we were growing up. And, basically, all of them have been a little odd. My dad brought Buck home without my mom's knowledge. When she came home from work one evening, there we all were, playing with a puppy. She thought it was ours (mine & Big S's). See, my sister had recently gotten married and moved out, and when she did, her dog, who up until this point had always lived at my parents' house with my sister, moved with her. I guess my dad was feeling lonely without a faithful companion to work out in the yard with, so, against my warnings that I "really don't think Mom wants another dog", he got one. How did I know my mom wasn't up for another dog....she told me. Not that she has anything against dogs, she just figured that now that all of the kids were out of the house, it would be one less responsibility to think about. Needless to say, she was a bit shocked when she found out it was HER dog and not mine. Although, Mom, if you're reading this, you have to admit that you had, at this point, brought home a few kittens without Dad's knowledge....what goes around, comes around :) Anyway, now we all love Buck and his menagerie of stuffed animals that he knows by name. I'm sure you're wondering why he's my "relief" picture. Well, today my parents went to Ohio to visit my sister and, since they were going to be gone most of the day, asked if we would drive over and let the dog out while they were gone. Needless to say, Buck felt much RELIEF when he was allowed to go outside during our visit this afternoon! See....doesn't he look relieved???

Day 18: Priorities

One of my main priorities in life is named Ryan. One of the others is named Camron. Starting in August, another priority I will have is teaching those first two priorities. So.....here we have a picture of most, but not all, of the boys' school books for the upcoming year!

Our Trip to Living Treasures

This is a test......This is only a test.....

Did I do it??? Did it work??? Yea me!!!!!

Day 17: On the road.....AGAIN

Two posts, in a row, now I'm all caught up!!!! Here's my "On the road" picture. I've added "AGAIN" because Rt. 130 was JUST like this not too long ago. The only reason it's truly annoying is this is how we get to taekwondo.....and we all know that's about 70 trips per week. And it never fails that I get behind some grandma who's afraid to go over 25mph because she might lose control of her giant boat of a car!!!!!

Day 16: Movement

Okay, here's my post from yesterday. I realize that it's a day late, but all my blogging is usually done in the evening hours and I went to bed last night at 9:25 p.m.! That's right, 9:25! This rarely ever happens but, for some reason, I was just so tired that I gave up and just crashed. (Possibly it was the Tiger class SB and I taught???? Nah.)

Anyway, here is Ry, not levitating as it may seem, but in the midst of MOVEMENT. What movement is that, you ask? A butterfly kick :)

And here is a pic of Ry doing further MOVEMENT..... practicing his form in FRONT of the house. As fate would have it, my lovely "neighbor" from up the street drove down to pick up her kids. I wonder if she thought Ry was "crying for attention"?????

Check this website out and leave a comment.

Go to this website: www.joshhosler.biz/NumberOneInHistory/SelectMonth.htm and find out what the number one song was on the day you were born. Mine is "My Ding-a-Ling". That is not cool.......

LESLIE!!!!!!!!!

Where are you, girl? I'm starting to get worried about you! Give me a call, anytime.....you know you can do that :)

Day 15: Moody - Coming next week.....look out!!!!

Sweet Potato Casserole

1 40oz. can Bruce's Yams, drained (& squished to get out excess juice)
1 29oz. can Bruce's Yams, drained (& squished to get out excess juice)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 T. vanilla
1/2 stick softened butter

Blend well and pour into greased casserole dish.

TOPPING: (this is what makes it WAY yummy)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 stick melted butter
1/2 cup flour

Mix together and spread on top of potato mixture.

Bake at 350 until heated through and the topping meets your crunchy requirements :)

If you want to have extra topping, heap the brown sugar and throw in some extra nuts.

Wendi's Questions......Answered

1. Do you like blue cheese? Sometimes, on salads only.
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? Uh, no....I wouldn't know how to go about it even if I wanted to....which I don't.
3. Do you own a gun? No.
4. What flavor do you add to your drink at sonic? We don't have Sonics here....but I probably wouldn't add anything....that sounds icky.
5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? No.
6. What do you think of hot dogs? I don't really spend any time thinking about hot dogs :) I don't eat them either....do you know what's in those things?????
7. Favorite Christmas movie? Christmas Vacation.
8. What do you prefer to ????? I think this question is missing......
10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? I'm not a big jewelry wearer. My engagement ring. The bead bracelets that Camron made me.
11. Favorite hobby? Reading.
12. Do you have A.D.D.? No.
13. What's one trait you hate about yourself? Only one?? As I've already established I have OCD and everything needs to be in its place. I can't ever just sit still. This drives Big S crazy.
14. Middle name? Renee.
15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I forgot to take Ry's library book back, why aren't there questions numbered 9, 25, or 35 in this quiz, I wish the boys would turn off the tv in the family room when they go upstairs to play.
16. Name 3 things you bought yesterday... Nothing, nothing and more nothing.
17. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Unsweetened iced tea, water, and....nothing else regularly...
18. Current worry? I need to find a notary so I can turn in the boys homeschool forms by the end of the month.
19. Current hate right now? Gas prices.
20. Favorite place to be? Home...or someplace with sun, sand and frosty drinks being served by a hot guy named Raul.
21. How did you bring in the New Year? Having staring contests with the boys to stay awake, watching the ball drop, and toasting the New Year with Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice.
22. Where would you like to go? Bahamas, Italy, Ireland, back to London, Germany...I want to see the world!!!!
23. Name three people who will complete this? All the people who already did :)
24. Do you own slippers? Yes.
26. What year would you go back in time to? Little House on the Prairie days...but all those skirts would get on my nerves.
27. Can you whistle? Not well.
28. Favorite color? Orange and Green.
29. Would you be a pirate? Yep.
30. What songs do you sing in the shower? Whatever's on the radio.
31. Favorite girl's name? Don't have one. Who needs girls anyway????
32. Favorite boy's name? Ryan and Camron :)
33. What's in your pocket right now? I don't have pockets on my shorts.
34. Last thing that made you laugh? Reading LL & NGM's answers.
36. Worst injury you've ever had? No real injuries here. Do the stitches I had after giving birth count....cause THOSE sucked!!!!
37. Do you love where you live? No...PA stinks!
38. How many TVs do you have in your house? 4
39. Who is your loudest friend? LL
40. How many dogs do you have? 0!
41. Does someone have a crush on you? Alex :)
42. What is your favorite book(s)? I don't think I have a favorite. I just like to read.
43. What is your favorite candy? Twix, Sweet Tarts.
44. Favorite Sports Team? The Special Forces Kick Me Club.
45. Your favorite meal? Again, no favorite. I just like food in general.
46. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping.
47. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I don't want to get up.
48. Do you have any odd habits? Oh, I'm sure Big S could answer this for me. Um....I make sure that all of the light switches are in the proper position and will run up and down the stairs to fix them if they're not (for example, if the switch is flipped up, then the light should be on and if the switch is flipped down, the light should be off...anything else is unacceptable.)

Day 14: Metallic

Meet Consuela - my new, METALLIC green vacuum cleaner! I love Consuela, she's awesome and comes with a hundred different little gadgets that assist me in my OCD cleaning. The only drawback that I've noticed is that Consuela weighs a TON. She's one heavy cleaning machine! Contrary to popular belief, I do not name all of my appliances (Wendi). Currently, only Consuela and Buddy have names (Buddy is my car). I didn't want you all to think I was weird or anything :)



Consuela was recently purchased to replace our old vacuum who did NOT have a name, but who was most recently and often referred to as, "you stupid piece of crap!" Here we are in a farewell picture. RIP old vacuum. You provided many years of sucky service. We thank you!

Day 13: Juicy

So...today is day 13 of Southern Belle's challenge. We're halfway through! I was a little worried about what I was going to post today, but my mom saved the day! She called yesterday morning and invited us over for dinner this evening, her JUICY roast with mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn, beans and campfire foods for dessert (smores and chocolate pudding mountain pies for those who like 'em.)

Here's a pic of crazy Cam out at the fire pit yelling, "I have created fire!!!!"

And here's a picture of my niece, Savannah, with a tiki torch behind her. She wanted me to take a picture of her so she could see it on my camera.

Day 12: Historic

Today was historic. Big S and I had people over that did not include my mom & dad or my sister and her wonderful family. Seriously, those are the only people that ever come to our house. Part of that has to do with the fact that Dave and I just don't like most people enough to actually spend time with them :) But these people are all cool and can come and visit whenever as long as they don't mind any mess that may have been made by Big S and the children. Since I knew they were all coming today, I made sure there was no mess! So, here is the picture of the historic event, the first gathering of all of the Special Forces members, even Jimmy!



Here's one of the best shots I got tonight during the "Smarties" festivities. Alex is just too darn cute for his own good! LL, make sure you show him that I put his picture on my blog. That'll make him love me even more!


Also, Southern Belle, we'll have to plan a time when Benjy can come over and check out all of Ryan & Camron's Star Wars stuff at length. He was so cute tonight as you guys were getting ready to leave. He came up to me and said, "Ma'am, can I come back and play with Camron's Star Wars legos and ships sometime?" I told him I'd talk to his mom and we'd set up a day :)

Day 11: Half and Half

HALF of the wine is in the bottle and HALF of the wine is in the glass. That is all :)

Day 10: Game On!

So.....tonight as SC and I were jabbing and punching at each other, I happened to mention that I had my camera with me and would be taking pictures during sparring class for today's word/phrase "game on". SC informed me that I COULD NOT do that because she had brought HER camera to class and had planned on doing the same thing. We reached a compromise which basically stated that I'd take a picture of her sparring and she'd take a picture of me sparring and the blogging world would just have to deal with the fact that we both had the perfect idea! As it turned out, before I got to point spar, Ryan wasn't feeling well and I had to take him home. I did, however, get a great picture of SC doing her infamous reverse hook kick at Jeff and totally scoring a point! I am attempting to learn this move and have performed it in practice sessions only :)

My Sister is Famous!!!! Sort of.

I don't know how many of you Special Forces readers receive the Trib, but my sister was on the front page today! She's slightly mortified. She said she knew the photographer was taking pictures of the kids building sandcastles and, if anything, that's what she thought would be in the paper. We all saw the picture before she did and had to assure her that: they got her "good" side, she didn't have a stupid expression on her face, she didn't look "teethy", her arms weren't flabby and you couldn't see her "back fat" (which, believe me, is all in her mind). She's convinced, now that she's seen the picture, that the shadow under her arm looks like armpit hair! Just to make her feel better, I'll let you all know that I was talking to her on the phone yesterday morning before she left for Keystone and she was SHAVING! So it's not - pit hair, that is.

Day 9: Fun in the Sun

Ry thought it would be a great idea to challenge Big S to a water balloon battle this evening. They each grabbed two balloons and the games began. This is the first balloon that Dave hurled at Ry - the second balloon hit the target. Ry got it right on the backside :) Apparently he needs to work on his dodging abilities.

There was fun in the sun yesterday at Southern Belle's house.

Cam managed to tame both a wild dolphin and a killer whale in one afternoon. There was much splashing and thrashing about as the whale received many elbow strikes, backfists, and head butts. It was quite entertaining!

Day 8: Framed

I am soooo not feeling creative or witty this evening. I went to class this morning and then spent a couple of hours out in the hot sun at Southern Belle's house so we could plan out the class we taught tonight. Then, I rushed home, changed, and tried to get to taekwondo quickly, but 130's a mess. Finally arrived, taught class, came home, ate dinner, paid bills (which sucks) and now.....here I am. I see going to bed in my immediate future, but, before I do that, here's my contribution to the blogging ring. Framed.....a hodge podge of pictures that are some of my favorites. Big S and Ry flexing in the ocean in South Beach; Cam with a GIANT icicle we found the year we spent Christmas up at camp; all of my boys in their sunglasses and "fancy" clothes for Dave's sisters wedding, striking tough-guy, mobster-like poses; Cam and his "slushie" at the beach on his 6th B-day; my sister, my niece & my nephew at camp. Sometimes I think I should update the photos, but I LOVE these and would miss them:)

Day 7: Flat

Not a very exciting picture, I know, but this wonderful corrugated rectangular prism (with FLAT sides) holds a true gem...our newly repaired Playstation 3. It arrived today. I love the UPS man! About two weeks ago there was much sorrow in our home when, for no apparent reason, the Playstation would not turn on. Ryan railed against the injustice of being denied playing Warhawk, but, somehow, he has survived. I hope, for the sake of the Sony people, that said game is included in the box (since it was trapped inside the console).

Day 6: Effort

I see that I'm the last one to post today. That's because I've been putting so much EFFORT into working my butt off! I scrubbed my front porch to within an inch of its life. The siding is now a sparkly white. The yellow/green pollen is noticeably absent from the red door. The spider webs have been eradicated from the bench. There are new flowers nicely potted and watered. I like my porch now. It'll probably stay this way for, what, 3 days?????




I wasn't the only one putting forth effort today. How much effort do you think it took for Cam to do this:




The number of Smarties that one can lick and stick to one's forehead before the first Smartie that was licked falls off of the forehead is 3.

Did you see that?

Girls, I got nothin'. I tried, I really did. I had my camera with me at Sam's and Wal-Mart. I had it with me when Big S, Camron, and I went berry-picking at Twin Lakes......but, nothing great, nothing "Did you see THAT"y jumped out at me. So...this is what you get:


Big S and I watched this movie On Demand last night. We're not big movie watchers. Usually, by the time we get access to the tv, it's late at night and neither of us wants to stay up for two hours to watch something that will, more than likely, be stupid. But, last night, as I sat on the couch with a heating pad on my neck and four ibuprofen running through my system, a chick-flick didn't sound like such a bad idea. And, since Big S IS the perfect husband, he sat there with me and watched it. I liked it. Big S is man enough to say that he liked it too. If you watch it, be prepared to get teary-eyed on occasion. If you don't get teary-eyed, then you have a heart of stone and your soul is shriveled. Usually, right as you're at your "holding the tears at bay" limit, they say something to crack you up, so you CAN save face and not actually cry. The guys that play the hottie Irishmen are another plus :)


That's all. I cheated and I am ashamed, but I did try. Please don't kick me out of the blogging circle!

Who's Who - for Lori

I was just talking to my sister, Lori, on the phone. Apparently, she thinks I'm retarded for starting a blog (which, by the way, she didn't have a clue as to what one was), but she's intrigued just the same. She said she's read all my entries and all of the crazy comments that have followed and she's pretty sure that my friends are unstable as well. Good guess! Since she doesn't know who any of you guys are, I told her I'd post your pics and introduce you to her.

Lady Leslie, me, Southern Belle (aka, Wendi)

Leslie and I have mutually agreed that we were probably separated

at birth. Who cares that she's a couple (x2) years

older than I am....doesn't matter. We figure that the

"powers that be" were afraid to send us out into the world

together at the same time. Seriously though, Leslie

is one of those people who knows exactly what I'm

thinking and what I'm going to say. And to think that

the first time I met her I thought she was boring!!!! What a

misconception! I also know that she's one of those

people I can count on, for whatever. It's nice

to have those people. It's even nicer to have them when

you haven't had them forever but know that you have

them now! (Wrap your mind around that one!)

Wendi....now Wendi threw both Leslie & I

for a loop. We thought she was a nice, quiet, first grade

teacher. Well, she IS nice and she IS a first grade teacher - but the

quiet is just a cover. She's a blast to have around and makes us laugh

hysterically when she says stuff that we'd NEVER

expect her to say in that sweet, southern drawl of hers.

Wendi has also become a taekwondo junkie - that's

another reason why I love her :)

Okay, my computer is getting on my nerves and doing things that I didn't tell it to do, so the guys will have to be in a separate post. I'll also have to search my pics for one of State Champ. I do have a great one of her doing her form blindfolded.....

My New Neighbor

This is my new neighbor, Rascal. He's just so cute that I had to post his picture. I think we'll get along just fine as long as he doesn't poop in my yard :)

Fore !!!!!

Big S took a vacation day today. The plan was to go and see Journey to the Center of the Earth with Cam. However, it was such a beautiful day that, when given the choice, Cam picked mini-golf at Statler's instead. Camron has loved mini-golfing since he was just a teeny, tiny little thing. He and Ryan could get through 18 holes in no time. The ball didn't even have to stop rolling before they would hit it again. Dave and I called it "speed golf".

Day 4: Color My World

Behold.........my new 100 multi-color gel pen set from Sam's Club! Don't you other scrapper girls be jealous now. Seriously though, I love color and all things colorful. Our living room is red for crying out loud! I'll also use the pens during school. The boys take turns picking out what color pen I use each day. Of course, last year I only had 10 colors for them to choose from (and, yes, I just ended my sentence with a preposition - deal with it :)

SORE!!!!!!

I'm sore. Most of my body hurts. I'm pretty sure that this has to do with the fact that I went to 3 taekwondo classes yesterday. During the morning class I did 170,000 lunges followed by sprints, throw in some testing sparring, jumping jacks, and punches - I left there a sweaty mess. So, thanks to Nocturnal Grand Master for the cuts on my knuckles and the pain in my legs! In the evening class I did about a million push-ups. The chest and back muscle pain are courtesy of Mr. D. Finally, the sparring class. State Champ and I have decided that this class was hard last night. We had to fight the boys. Big boys. State Champ and I are not the biggest people around. I'm 5'4", she's right around there with me. We usually spar each other. Not last night. No.....Eaglescout separated us and we were up against 6'1"ish+ guys who had a hundred pounds on us. But we didn't back down. We got right in there and went for it! It was fun. (Hugs to Rob and Mike for not going all out and slaughtering me :) The shin guards worked out great by the way. I seem to have only one bruise on my arm - from blocking a kick. I've named it "Rob" (we name our bruises after the people who have given them to us :) Southern Belle, you only have about a month until you can start naming bruises too!

Do you feel the Force??????

This is what is taking place outside as I type.

In the time that it has taken me to get inside and

upload this picture, four more Jedi,

or Sith, or whatever, have joined the

battle. If only I knew how to upload video....

the sound effects and facial expressions

make it that much more exciting!

Good and Evil battling it out on my street -

who'd have guessed?????

Day 3: "Believe"

BELIEVE

I am choosing to believe that in

the next year and a half this belt will

no longer be on this shelf, but around my

waist, with my name stitched

on it in that fancy goldish/yellow thread!

Day 2 of the Challenge: Accessory

Today's word is "Accessory".

The first picture is of my shin guards. My wonderful hubby has recently purchased these for me. I'm sure that he cares about the well-being of my shins during sparring class; however, the main reason he went to all the trouble of buying me shin guards is that he, "doesn't want to spend all summer looking at your black and blue legs in shorts and miniskirts." What love :)

Here we have a picture of my "Princess" key chain. The same wonderful husband bought this for me when we were in Orlando in June. It is solar-powered and, according to the instructions, will flash "Princess" for five years! We'll see.

Day 1 of Southern Belle's 26 Day Pictorial Challenge

Southern Belle has challenged Lady Leslie and I to take a picture each day, for the next 26 days, having to do with a certain word, from a certain list, that she has posted on her blog. What we have here is nothing more than a seasoned blogger flexing her blogging knowledge and picking on us newbies. That's okay. We're up for the challenge!

Today's word is, "Aahh!!!" Before I post my picture, I feel the need to give you my interpretation of the word. This is not the sound you make as you slip into a hot bubble bath, nor is this the sound you make when your hubby rubs your feet. My "Aahh!!" is as follows:

Aahh - the exclamation omitted from one's mouth at the sight of something nasty, a sound of freaked-outedness (e.g. When you are walking down your basement stairs at night to put a load of clothes in the dryer and you encounter one of those ginormous, brown, hairy spiders on the steps/wall - you know, the ones that are never there during the daylight hours? Also, the sound made when it's 10:00 at night and your husband is out of town on business and you open your kitchen cupboard to find yourself face to face with the beady eyes and pointy nose of the 'possum that's been pooping in your cupboards that you've been trying to catch for two weeks. THAT'S the sound of AAHH!! I'm talking about people!)

With that........my pictures.

Now, don't get me wrong....I do realize that important battles of galactic proportions have taken place at this very site, but when I look at this room.......... A mother should not have to risk her life to tuck her child into bed at night. Do you know what one of those mega-blocks feels like on the soft underside of your foot? How about when you step on a wooden block and you manage to get just the edge of it, causing it to flip over and you to slightly twist an ankle????? Now that I look at the picture even more closely, I think that's some athletic support in the center of the room! Nice!

The First One

Quite an interesting blog title, wouldn't you say? For everyone who knows me IRL, it will make complete sense. For those who don't know me IRL (like the HSR ladies).....I suppose I should explain.

The "homeschooling" part is pretty obvious. I homeschool my two perfect boys, Ryan and Camron. Ryan went to preschool but has been homeschooled ever since. He will start 8th grade this August and says, quite adamantly, that he will never go to school (which is fine with me, as long as he plays by my rules for our homeschooling. Once he chooses not to cooperate, which I don't see happening, he's off on the big, yellow bus!) Camron will be starting 6th grade this year. If you think about it, it's pretty amazing that I have taught my children all the normal stuff that parents teach their kids (feeding themselves, dressing themselves, using the "big boy potty", brushing their teeth, riding bikes) plus how to write, read, use a dictionary, multiply, divide, and now....algebra! An extra plus is that we're all still alive and friends :)

This would explain the "Ninja-Turtle" part of the title.


I started taking Taekwondo in March of 2007. Ryan had gotten bumped to the adult class and it seemed silly for me to drive him there and then just sit for 45 minutes. Besides, it looked like so much fun! So....I joined and became slightly obsessed. Dave started to tell people that he married a "ninja turtle". I'm now a brown belt and will be testing for my rank stripe in August. The boys are red belts and will test for their rank stripes in August. Technically, they are the higher rank. We all know who is REALLY the higher rank though :)

And, finally, the "princess" part. I do not, in any way, think I am a princess. However, Dave calls me princess, treats me like a princess, and came up with that as part of my blog title, so it stays. If I was a princess, I would be the most low-maintenance one in the history of the world!

That's it. For now. I want to thank my Southern Belle friend for inspiring me to actually try this blogging thing out! She told me, "If I can do it, you can do it!" That was definitely more encouraging than the advice her hubby gave me before my first Taekwondo testing which went something like this, "As long as you go out on the floor and do something that even remotely resembles Taekwondo, you'll be fine." Thanks guys!