Conversations

On the drive home after picking up the girls from school the other day, we were talking about who looks like my side of the family and who looks like Sean's.

After a few minutes into our discussion S says;

"No, no, no. It's like this. D looks like Mom and her side of the family, R looks like Dad and his side, and I look like both."

"So', I said, "You're a mish-mash?"

"No." S replied, "I'm a perfect blend."

Ahhh, just like a fine Starbucks coffee!!

Another Day, Another Week

Well, the girls made it through their first week of school & I made it through another birthday.

Happy B-Day to me!
{Brought to you by Danny the mannequin. Featured in my Flickr stream found here.}

Not that this birthday was much different than any other since I was 30.

Because, you know, I'm only 32 now.

That's my story & I'm sticking to it.

As long as people keep believing it!!!

For R & S, the first week of school wasn't much different than the last couple of years.

For D it was a bigger change.

She's now in middle school. A different school, new friends, different teachers. All that good stuff that comes with growing up & plowing through school.

She doesn't have class with any of her friends from elementary school, but made 2 new friends the first 2 days of school. S made a new friend, too. Although her way to make friends is to walk up to a cute boy & say to him, "You're cute. Will you be my friend?"

I'm not kidding.

She really did that.

I think she gets it from her father.

But that's what I love about my girls. They make friends easily & quickly. They are in no way like I was. I was so shy that it took me half the year to make friends. At least until I was in 8th grade! By then most of the kids in my class I'd been going to school with since kindergarten. And new students were few & far between. In kindergarten I was afraid of everyone! When I was 17 & forced to get a job {thanks Mom!!}, it terrified me that I would have to talk to people. People I didn't **GULP** know.

You'll be happy to know I've over come that fear & now enjoy talking to people.

Even people I don't know!

I got a couple of cool gifts for my birthday.

S got me this ~

She bought it about a month ago & was so excited about it. She just couldn't wait to give it to me! She actually had me open it on the 12th because she couldn't wait any longer!! Silly girl.

And Mom got me these ~

You may remember me mentioning them here. They are so cool. And go with absolutely nothing I own. Except my laptop & bag I carry it in. Which makes them all the more appealing to me.

Sean said he thinks they're gay & don't match my clothes. Which, again, makes me love them even more!!

True, they don't match.

They coordinate!

Caught in a Whirl Wind

The past few days have been pretty busy. I went from setting home with the kids to 4 full days of busy, busy, busy.

Friday, Saturday & Sunday I worked the home show at the University of Phoenix Stadium. Friday & Sunday were easy 8 hour days, but Saturday was a loooong 10 hour day. It was really nice to get out, and Levi & I got to catch up on what's going on in our lives.

All 3 days were busy, we set about 15 or so appointments. Which means more work for me. I really miss the interaction with the customers {or maybe it's just talking with all adults all day!!} and I can't wait until I get back to more designing!

On Monday, Mom needed some help with installing a new stove & overhead microwave. So the younger two & I went over to help. {S started school on Monday.} The hardest part was getting the overhead microwave attached! That took a sweaty couple of hours!!

Now mom has a working oven & microwave. Which means we can visit for lunch or dinner more often!!

Today the younger 2 started school, so I have the house all to myself.

Ahhhhh!

How nice it is to sit in a quiet house & not hear any bickering.

That bubble will burst in about an hour......

*sigh*

Ducks, Turtles, Trees & Ponds

Yesterday, the younger two & I got up early {at least it was for them} to go to the park. I wanted to get there before 8 before it got way too hot.

We got there about 7:30 & it was already 92 degrees! We went to a little park that's in a strip mall like area. It's behind a couple of restaurants & an office building & is a pretty nice spot.

It has 2 small ponds, a fountain & trees. They have some tables & benches scattered through out that look like spots for the employees to have lunch.

This is the larger pond that has a bunch of HUGE koi fish and turtles. When we first got there, there was a turtle sunning itself on a rock. He looked quite happy!

We walked half way around the pond, then went to the smaller one behind it to feed the 6 ducks that were there. There were more koi fish & we tried to get them to jump out of the water when we tossed in pieces of bread! I wish I had better knowledge of my camera to capture it, but I still have more to learn to get those kind of shots.

I took a couple of pictures of the girls in a cool looking tree in front of the fountain. It was very shady & even with my flash, they were dark & needed to be Photoshopped to look half way decent.

You can't even tell there is a fountain behind them :(

I had D sit on a rock in front of the fountain that was more in the sunlight. A little better, but still not as good as I would've liked. I think I had my camera on the wrong setting. Better make sure I double check them next time!!

All these pics I had the sun either behind me of off to the left a bit, so I need to learn how to take pics with the sun in different locations. Usually it's in front of me {like the first pic of the fountain} and those pictures I think typically look better.

Just more learning on my part!

We walked around the large pond, heading back to the van when 4 turtles came swimming towards us.

I think they were hoping for some bread crumbs, but we only had a few pieces of bread that we gave all to the ducks & koi. But it was fun to see the little guys swimming around.

It was getting too hot after being there for only 30 minutes or so, so we began heading back. I wanted s few more pictures of the girls, so I took what I like to call "Hey You!" shots.

You know, ones where you aim the camera then call out "Hey R!" so she looks toward you while you snap.

Of course, I don't always get a good shot & have to do a do over. By then they've caught on and, as in the case of D, it becomes a battle.

After the park, D & I had to run over to the middle school to get her schedule & photo ID.

Naturally, she was more cooperative with the school photographer in getting her picture taken than she is with me!

Punk!

HAPPY 16th B-DAY S!!

I know. I'm a day late. So sue me.

Because of our {lack of} finances, she didn't get a big party. Or any party for that matter.

She did, however, get a cake, card & some cash from us.

And she got to go to a sleep-over with some of her friends. Her friend W had 4 of her friends over & they baked her a cake, sang happy birthday & watched movies all night.

They ate cake all day & night long!

When she came home, she played solitaire on the computer for 3 hours, watched a little TV & went to bed at 8.

It's so tough being 16....