Jeep riding

We took El for a Jeep ride, she loved it. Her ponytails were just a flying and she giggled the whole time. She likes to pretend she's driving Grandpa's jeep while wearing Grandma's sunglasses. She is so cute.

When she had to say good-bye on Saturday she gives me a big hug and says "but Grandma when will I see you again?".... awwwww she broke my heart. She is getting to be such a big girl, ya know she is starting school in 3 days.

Moving Day

Today is moving day for Lynn and Jesse, we took our short drive to their new house and we had them unloaded by 11:00. Their house is really nice and we even had a neighbor come over with a bundt cake for them, it was still warm.... yummy. We feel really good about their new home and their neighborhood is going to treat them very well. The one neighbor likes to drink beer while mowing lawn.... I think John wants to live here now.

Foggy Morning

Cool mornings with that covering of fog is a sign of Fall.... urghhh

Here's a bonus pic I liked the colors of this one better but there's something about a barn that makes a picture interesting.

No candles

That's the new rule for weddings. No Candles.... so what do you do? Who doesn't like the look of candles at their wedding? Well, we have 2 halls that no longer allow candles. This hall communicated the new rule 2 weeks ago so we had to come up with a new centerpiece.

Russian Sage

Colors

These are the colors for the wedding we are decorating for this week. Eggplant and Apple Green.... just happens to be the same colors as my kitchen so I collected the items I have to help us bring out their colors. I'm not a purple girl but I love my eggplant kitchen with the pop of green.

It is Self Portrait Tuesday but I'm at a loss for what I haven't taken a picture of yet (some things I just can't show you) :) Oh but now that I look at the picture closer that is me in the back... those are the whites of my eyes, I'm just totally out of focus! I look kinda cartoon-robotish R2D2'ish... yeap that me back there with my flat head right above my eyes!!

Our New Toy

Today we had plans to tear off more paper and stain another window or two, but first John had to make a phone call for a toy we looked at last night. They would meet us at 10:00 so he could test drive it, he was already convinced it was ours so a test drive would be the final decision. We were owners by 10:30 and spent the day bombing around in our new Jeep (no work done today).

We first talked about buying a Jeep on June 24th 2003 at about 2:30 pm, the conversation is still very fresh in my mind. I didn't want John to buy a motorcycle so we decided to look for a Jeep, our kids were getting older, we were moving Lynn from one of her college apartments to another one and discussing buying a Jeep on the way home, our lives were great and our family was secure. Then about 5:30pm our plans came to a screeching halt - our granddaughter made her surprise entrance into our lives and turned our plans upside down. With every crisis we meet head on together the stronger we are. So now 5 years later Miss El has both of us wrapped around her little finger, our family is wonderful and we're Jeep owners.

Life is Good!

Working on the inside.... finally

Today we decided to stay home and work on the inside stuff we have been putting off. John stained and varnished windows while I and Elly took off the wallpaper in the dining room. It took me 6 hours, what a mess and pain in the butt job. What was I thinking when I put that stuff up 17 years ago? I still have the computer room to do yet and then prime. I may get it done before the snow flies. John has 12 more windows, a front door and patio door to go yet too, but the one window that is done is very nice.... so nice that he let me tear off all the baseboards and we're gonna replace them too. The entire inside is getting a face lift. Here's El helping me remove the old paper.... yeah don't ask about the pink paint underneath... I'm not sure why I ever had a pink/peach dining room. Gotta love El's choice of clothes today, she dressed herself.

Working in Photoshop

I finally got through all my nephews engagement pictures. Here are a few of my favorites from my minor photoshopping skills.

More Senior Pics

Such a handsome young man, it was a pleasure to take his Senior pictures. Here's a sneak peak.

If my baby was home tonight I could take a picture of his latest issue..... how many bones will a boy break before he grows up? So far it's been 2 and now it may be 3. Last night Adam was riding his pedal bike trying to do a wheelie (of course a bike has 2 wheels but Adam usually rides on one), and the chain came off and he flipped over the handle bars protecting his fall with his hand.... not such a good idea.

Shawna were you riding bike with him last night and pushed him off??!! We know you pushed him off the swing and green-limbed his arm when he was 5. :) just kidding

He comes home shows me his handlebar imprint in his chest, his wrist that he can't move.... so good mom that I am says "Put an ice pack on it and you'll be fine". Well this morning I got a phone call. "Mom.... I don't think it will be fine anymore". So we went to the doctor and had a few x-rays done, nothing is broke that they can see but the doc is not sure why he is in so much pain and having a hard time moving his arm/wrist. He is now splinted and goes back on Monday for more x-rays. But he must be doing better since I haven't seen him since we left the doctors office.

Stargazer Lily

There's something about white flowers.

Come on your not hurt

Come on feet your not hurt (anymore). Why can't I get back into walking? It's been so busy at work, at home, taking pictures, proofing pictures, decorating for weddings..... I got out of my walking habit and I can't get back into it, I'm still super busy but I have to start again.

These feet were fixed for walking and that's what I'm gonna do... maybe (read story below)

So last night I force myself to go for a walk and about 3/4 of a mile away a tractor and chopper box is coming towards me and I see that stuff (I think it's hay or silage??) flying out all over the road and will cover me when it goes by. My allergies are so bad when it comes to hay that I panic about what to do. I have a couple of options, jump in the ditch, run like hell (that ain't gonna happen) or pull my shirt over my head!! So I go for the pulling my shirt up over my head, don't worry I had two shirts on, turn my back and take the shower of grass pieces covering my entire body. The guy on the tractor had to be thinking "get a grip you stupid city girl.... go back where you came from.... afraid of a little hay.... go back and lock yourself in the house" Just then a bug flew in my eyeball and instantly hurt, I couldn't see, I rubbed and rubbed, poked, and tried to dig the bug out of my eye. My eye started watering so here I am stopped on the side of the road covered in hay with my eye watering like a baby. Now the 2nd tractor is coming down the road blowing the same stuff out every hole in the chopper box while that driver waves and keeps on going..... thanks buddy!! I can't get the stupid bug out of my eye... now what??? I finally got the bug pushed to the side so I can at least see again, shake myself off like a wet dog and finish my walk, and this is suppose to be enjoyable? John did come to my rescue and meet me halfway home to dig the bug out of my eye, and I did get back out there again tonight for a walk, it was uneventful except for 2 cop cars that had some truck and boat pulled over for at least 30 minutes.

I'm back

It's a new week and I'm back, I took pictures everyday that I didn't post but to go back now and catch up would make me further behind so I'm starting from here (and I took this picture on Friday).

This last weekend we had a camping weekend at the hunting shack our 1st ever "Hemmerfest". This is a picture that I took while trying to balance the camera on top of a fence post so I wouldn't have camera shake from the dark night and no flash. The shutter took about 3-4 minutes to process enough light to produce the photo. During that 3-4 minutes the camera caught the movement of the people.

Ignored flower bed

This flower bed I ignore, it can do whatever it wants, grow whatever it wants and I don't spend very much time taking care of it at all. Now that's magic!!

Grandpa Ott

"Grandpa Ott" is a Morning Glory that never fails me. I bought it about 5 years ago and he just keeps coming back year after year. He may start out really, really small but he makes up time in the late summer months. I swear he grows 3 feet in a single day, and winds around everything in his path. I gave some of these to my sister DiAnn who couldn't get anything to grow on her arbor and her boyfriend said they couldn't get married until something grew and covered the entire thing.... I'll have to go check on it, we may have wedding bells soon.

Family pictures

Today I took family pictures for a really great family. I love the pictures when no one is looking at the camera, it says "the real family" to me. I also poster edged this picture so you couldn't see faces real well and I really like it this way.

Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate

That's the name of this flower, it grows from the seeds of the flower so in the spring there's millions of them and you have to pull hundreds out of the ground, but then in August they start to bloom and take over my heart.

I decided I needed to use my new lens and figure out how to use it without getting blur and what's it's best use is. Well this picture is stunning, as were all my other 95 pictures that I practiced with, I think I finally figured it out. It may have taken me a couple hours but all my reading has paid off. Check out the depth of field (blurred background) it makes the flower the main focus and your eye doesn't wander anywhere else. The background is a bush and lawn but you'd never know it.

Skunk Update

So you all are as bad as John..... who cares what's happening to the skunk? It's a skunk, he can make you stink really really bad in less than 1 second which is about the time you need to lift the lid, stick your head over the opening and check to see if he's still in there and he see's the whites of your eyes lifts his tail and you guessed it sprays you with skunk juice....just because you need to know if he's still in there???? WHERE DO YOU THINK HE'S GONNA BE??

I call on my way home and as always drill John with questions about his day, what he's doing, do you miss me, do you love me, what are we doing tonight, what's Adam doing, what did Adam do at work, where is Adam, where did Adam go, (It's the "E" in me, I can't help it, it's what I do) Of course John has the answers to his questions but always says "I don't know" to the questions about Adam... I ask him "Don't you two talk to each other?"

John - Yes we talk
Me - Well if you talk why don't you know any of this stuff
John - Tonight I said your car is leaking oil and he said it's not from MY car
Me - You call that talking to each other????
John - Yes
Me - I really think you two need bonding time you two really need to talk to each other
John - I do we had bonding time tonight
Adam (in background) - I didn't bond with dad that's gross
Me - hee, hee, hee (I love it when them two do things together)
Me - What did you do?

John - Went to the woods.... (keep reading for story)

So just for all you curious folks out there that need to know I'll tell you. The reason I know is because it was driving John crazy too, so he takes his clean smelling son, Adam, with him to the woods to help him check on the status of the skunk in the garbage can. They get to the can and John (brave father that he is) stands a long ways away from the can and talks Adam into picking up the lid to check what he's curious about.

Adam being the wiser of the two at the moment finds himself a really, really long stick (sounds more like a branch or maybe even an entire small oak tree) to be a safe distance away from the can and tips it over...... OH NO!! Nothing happens, the skunk doesn't move, it doesn't run with it's tail flopping from right to left spraying everything in it's path just to make sure it gets the person or thing that put him in that can.... nothing!!

So my brave men walk closer to the can to check things out, Adam, remember he has a high sense of dealing with issues in a different way than most, decides to throw rocks at it just to see if it moves.... yeap sounds good to John. URGGGHHHH it's alive, it's moving, now what?? They try to scare it out of the can to see how it's feeling, remember it's been in the can since Sunday night and sitting in the hot sun with a cover on top since Monday. Well it won't come out of the can, Adam continues to bang on the can with his really long stick and John keeps his distance just in case (my brave knight).

Well I'm not happy to report but they didn't have another choice, John had to put the skunk down and they both came back home still smelling like men are suppose to smell after a big day of father son bonding.

Since I don't have a new picture for tonight here's a picture of Adam at the Doghouse when he was so cute and snuggly and actually liked to be with his mom and dad, as a matter of fact when John said "I'm going to the Doghouse" you better get out of the way because Adam was running for the pick-up. His dad was not allowed to go anywhere without him, what happened Adam??? Remember you said that you would always spend time with your dad and uncles no matter how old you got!!

Yellow fields

So I'm driving home from class for the 3 day in a row, almost 8 hours of driving time I have put in already this week plus 27 hours of class and I'm not really sure what is whizzing by my windows since I've seen it all 2-3 times before I start to Make Stuff Up. Well this morning I grabbed my camera on the way out of the house just in case I needed it.... well I did. This field of sunflowers startled me since I've passed it everyday and now it's Day 3 and I finally notice to sea of bright flaming yellow sunflowers. I whipped that car around and stop to take a few hundred pictures. There is something about a field of sunflowers that says "be happy" to me so I actually posted 2 of my favorites for you to be happy with me.

Now I'll go back to my regular scheduled driving and listening without knowing what I'm even seeing or hearing!!

Internet Issues

Urghhhhhhh I'm having Internet issues for the last couple of days, it takes me 10 times as long to post and if I'm lucky it works. I can't load pictures either so just bear with me for the next couple days as I hope Wildblue works through their issues. I have a great story that happened on Monday but the pictures won't load..... I loaded them to a flash drive and if I have time during my breaks in class I'll upload them to share with you, keep checking back.

A What???

So this week I'm traveling back and forth from class, it's about 90 minutes in a car each way. So on the way home tonight I call John to help pass the time. We talk for awhile and then he says.... John - wanna know my excitement tonight?

Connie - Sure

John - I get home from work and walk over to the garage, open it up and there is stuff tipped over... the place is a mess

Connie - What? who did that?

John - I don't know so I ask Adam, what did you do in the garage today and he says that stuff was like that when he got home.

John - So I start cleaning it up, wondering what happened.... pick up the garbage can lid and walk over to put it on the can and a SKUNK is inside the garbage can

Connie - Giggling

John - Laugh???? It's not funny the skunk is alive so it's just me and him with a lid between us so I slam the lid on and thankfully he doesn't have a chance to spray

Connie - Still giggling

John - So now what am I going to do with a live skunk in the garbage can, how am I getting him out of the can and out of the garage?

Connie - Still giggling and made an attempt to ask, so what'ca do with it?

John - I moved the garbage can outside and haven't decided yet. My brother Ken and Adam and lots of ideas but none of them sound real good to me.

Connie - So???

John - I don't know, I gotta go and think about it, this stupid thing has me frazzled.

So tonight when I get home the skunk is still in the can, now his brother Ed comes over and John tries to give Ed the perfectly good garbage can.... Ed wants to look in it first, we advice him not to. John explains that the skunk is kinda goofy when he put the lid on so he believes it's sick and probably almost dead..... NOPE!! Ed lifted the lid and the thing was looking at him..... yikes on goes the lid again. Well Ed leaves and so does his Dad that happened to stop.... now why did so many people happen to stop today??? Poor John even after all the family support he is left with a garbage can with a skunk inside. So our only resort was to take the can out to the woods and just let nature take it's course, either the skunk tips the can over, a deer gets curious as to why this can is out there and tips it over or the can doesn't tip over. But I'm worried someone from the family will go out there within the next hour or so and wonder why someone threw this can by the brush pile, open it up and get a big surprise.... not funny. So I make John tape a note to the lid but who's gonna read a note that says there's a skunk in here and take it serious? No one!

More Pictures

I took pictures today for our nephew Marcus and his fiance Sara. They are they cutest couple, I had lots of fun taking their pictures and also Marcus's son Preston. It took him awhile to warm up to me but we had lots of grins towards the end. Here's a sneak peak, lots more to proof... I've taken like 900 pictures in the last week and have had no time to photoshop and make CD's.

Sunrise and Fog

This morning was another beautiful sunrise with the fog starting to lift. I should have got out of bed when my alarm first went off because it was much prettier with the sun just starting to hit the horizon but of course I have to push the snooze 2-3 times before I get out for real (this morning it was 3, Phil Vassar concert last night, I was tired). Seriously I get out of bed, walk across the room, push the snooze and crawl back into bed 2-3 times before I get up for real. I know, I know why don't I just get up? I can't I have to feel like I can steal 9 more minutes of sleep every day. Just think the sun rose this high in 18 minutes.