Here are just a few pictures of the snow we have had this week. Driving has been a pain at times, the temp outside has been in the 'teens, the kids have had the entire week off of school, so a full 3 week Christmas vacation for them, but the beauty of the snow makes up for all of it.

A big bowl of this.
These to come clean the house.
To go here with my family.
That Santa would bring me a new one of these.
Spending an entire day reading this.

I shall continue to dream.....

Please let me introduce Nessie... my inlaw's new puppy.
She's the sweetest 6 week old border collie ever.

What a wonderful holiday we had. Although it was spent in the Oncology unit at Sunnyside Kaiser Permanete in Portland. Why there you ask? My Father in law who means the world to me as a father was diagnosed with Mantel Cell Lymphoma about 2 weeks ago. He will spend about 4-5 days per month getting chemo treatments for the next 6 or 7 months. As hard as it is for the family, I know in my heart that he is a fighter. A fighter like no other. He has already been through cancer treatments before, so this should be a cake walk.

Black Friday was like no other before, the shopping, the crowds, the thrill..total chaos. What more could I ask for on the day that every other person goes out and shops until the credit cards are maxed out. Well not mine, but you get the picture. This was the first year I was totally on my own shopping. Fred was working, so it was me. I only had one item that was my MUST have item. It did require me standing in line at 4:45am at Target. I was about the 20th person in line, so I wasn't too worried about not getting that one MUST have item. I was more worried about the check out lines. I was in and out in less than 10 minutes. Not too shabby for my first go round alone. I was pleased, yet I didn't have the brains to say 'stop, go home where it's warm'. I kept going, I went to a few more stores, nothing too grand. The amount of people is what got to me. I held out for 3 more stores then called it a day. Overall, I did well and I'm happy with what I got. I always think to myself that next year I won't do it, but in my heart, I know I will be in line at some store at 5am next year on Black Friday.

It's offically my birthday week!
I'm not sure if I should be sad or happy about this one, it's a big one.

In the past 2 days I have heard two hilarious things come out of the mouth of Lenae. I work with her and she is amazing. Each day she has something ridiculously funny to say. Most times it's just totally random.
Two things in the past two days keep me laughing and will continue to keep me laughing.
1. Yesterday she said she had a question that a customer was asking her, would the customer get a better signal if he taped a copper wire to his cell phone that was coming from his house? She has a totally serious look on her face when asking this question. I was floored, I thought to myself 'is she serious?' Come to find out, she was absolutely serious!

2. It was brought up today (after the copper wire question) that she was in a car with Lindsey, they were driving past Fred Meyers. They drove past the can return and Lenae said to Lindsay 'is that a soup kitchen?' What on earth!?! It's where you return your cans, not a soup kitchen!!

This girl cracks me up to no end! I adore her to death as she is nothing but a total comic. I often think that she should be a comedian. Maybe after her baby is born.... hehe

I <3 you L. Orcutt!!! :o)

I've been compiling random things in my head for the past few weeks, I've thought about blogging on each one, but why? So I'm going to do one post with the random-ness that lurks about my head.

* Names -- Ever seen a name and just thought... that poor kid.
As you know, I work for T-Mobile and see atleast 60-65 names per day. Some odd, some not. Some are common and some are unpronouncable. And then there are the ones that you have no explanation of. With out further ado... Butts. With the last name of Butts, wouldn't you want to be called by your first name? In this case, no. This person instisted that I call her Mrs. Butts. *shakes head*

* Holidays -- I was walking through my favorite Target store the other day. As I went down the many isles I came across one that had back to school stuff, I meandered through it looking for any missing supplies. The next isle over, Halloween. So I wandered through and came to the last isle in that section, Christmas. Amazing how you go from school, to dressing up to get crazy amounts of candy and then wishing for that one amazing Christmas present each year, all in the matter of 4 or 5 store isles.

* Cranky Customers -- I cannot even tell you how many people call in to either complain at a .20 cent charge for a unwanted text message to us not offering overnight shipping or some other random silly issue. Am I the only one that thinks it's better to just pay the lousy .20 cent text message charge or cancel an account and have a 200 dollar charge for breaking a contract?

* Fall Season/Series premiers -- I really think that all of the TV networks get together and plan to show all of the really good shows on the same night and the same time? WHY!? Why must they make me crazy setting up so many recordings on my DvR a night?

* Bad Drivers! -- For the safety of EVERYONE around you, please do NOT talk on the phone, read a paper and drive at the same time while going 65 plus mph on I-5. Not only does it put you in danger but it puts every other person driving at that moment in that spot. Think before you get into your car or pull over for gods sake!

* Autumn -- I absolutly love this season! The leaves are changing color, the tree's are starting to lose leaves. It's getting darker earlier each night. Nights are crisp, mornings are brisk. The colors keep me wishing it was like this all year long. I love it.

And that my wonderful readers (Hmm I wonder if I have any) is some of the random thought's that run in my mind. Not everyday, but atleast for the past few days. Welcome to my semi-crazy train of thoughts!

Today I made a list of things that I find totally random that either bug me or that I do, I then threw that list away and decided to go with what came to mind as I sat here and posted, my goal is to get to 20.

1. I find it highly annoying when talking to soeone on the phone at work askes me where my accent is from? Oregon people do NOT have an accent!

2. I carry atleast 3 lip glosses/chapstick/lipsticks in my purse at any givin time.

3. I love the smell of freshly washed sheets on my bed. It's relaxing to me.

4. I have two cats, one thinks he is a dog and another who thinks she's a queen.

5. I a proud of myself for holding my job now and totally hating it.

6. I refuse to let my hair get to it's natural color. THe faded red color is not attractive on me.

7. I am only child, I have step siblings. But I grew up an only child.

8. I love chocolate. When I feel like I'm stressed I eat it.

9. My kids make me laugh daily.

10. I love to read books, mostly crime books.

11. I am not a artsy crafts person but I want a degree in web design.

12. I am still inlove with my car, I'm so happy that Fred got it for me!

13. When I met Fred I fell in love with him like no other. He is my one true soulmate. He is my penguin!

14. Like my Aunt Jody I fear clowns. I know when the fear started and just last week I was in the same situation and was still scared for them to come close to me.

15. I have a purse obsession! I love them, I want more of them! I really want a coach bag, I beg my mom to let me borrow one of hers, but she still hasn't said yes yet.

16. I don't have a bunch of friends, and I am totally content with that. I like having a few really close friends and then just some 'friends'.

17. I love reality tv. It makes me laugh at all the crazy people in the world who want to be on tv!

18. I love summer nights.

19. My feet are still growing, I used to wear a size 8, now I wear a 8.5 and sometimes a 9.

20. Most days I do not feel pretty...

It seemed like the longest summer this year, with the kids here full time it made for one of the best summers we have had.
Today it all came to a halt...school! Needless to say I'm not sure who was more happy, me or the kids.
We all got up early today, 5:30am so everyone could be ready and dressed and out the door on time, and with 3 kids getting ready and myself as well, we did it!
The boys departed first, I offered to take them to school, but I'm betting that in jr. high school it isn't so cool when your mom drops you off at school. Even if she has a super cool car! hehe :op
Then came Sierra. I was very nervous for her, new city, new school, everything new this year. She said she wasn't nervous or scared, she was excited. Fred and I both walked her to school. First time in my children's life that I was ever able to walk her to school. It sure did feel good doing it too!
We arrived at the school, as we walked into the building, there was a red carpet laid down..celebrity style. Staff lined both sides and clapped as the kids arrived, I wondered if the kids were wanting paparazzi as well. We got to her classroom. She went right to her desk and got all ready to sit down and start her day. She was already looking at kids in her class to befriend, by the end of the day she said she already had a handful. Fred tugged my hand to say we needed to go, even though Sierra is now in the 5th grade, I felt like it was my baby's first day of school all over again. We said our good-byes and walked home.
Through out the day I wondered how she was doing. When I picked her up from school she couldn't stop talking about the new friends she had made, her teacher, how the classroom was set up, who she sat by and what she did at recess. I think she will be just fine in the new school.
The boys said they had a good day as well, but again, when your a teenager you really don't have a lot to say to your parents most days.. hehe.

On 8/31/08 she turned 10. It felt like a small bit of her childhood has gone out the door. She seems so grown up these days. She doesn't even play with toys anymore. She reads, colors, watches movies, does bead work or some other crafty thing. But no more toys, long gone are the days of Barbies, Care Bears and My Little Pony. To me it feels like she's growing up so fast, she may be doing so but I'm not ready to let go of my baby girl just yet.
This is a big year for her. Not only is she in double digits for her age, but she's starting a brand new school this week. 5th grade, top class of elementary school. I have no doubt that it will be a good year for her, lots of new friends, lots of new memories. She and her brother are living with us full time this year, no more half and half between our house and her dad's house. It's a big change for all of us, but a good change.

Everytime I see Kate Hudson now, either on TV, in a magazine or online in some picture, my mind goes back to this horrific picture of her? Why oh why do I still have this in my mind?

For the sake of getting my head back to some what normal, Kate Hudson give us a diffrent cover... you look horrid in this picture. :o(

There are not very many things that my Father in Law Clay says that do not make me laugh or even a small chuckle.
There are a bunch of trees around their house, 2 that stand out to me each time we go to the house to visit. If you sit in the back yard you see these two large lush green trees. Honestly I don't even know what kind of trees they are, but they sure are pretty.
Last year, we were there for a visit, our middle son Kyle was sitting in the backyard with grandpa Clay, who was telling him about the rubber band and scissor birds. The rubber band bird would try to fly to the tree right next to it, but would always bounce back, he was never really able to get to the other tree because the scissor bird hadn't cut the rubber bands off him so he could freely fly. I assume Kyle thought grandpa was joking, but just watching those two birds play in the 2 trees was almost believable.
Fall came and went, as did winter and spring, we are now into late summer again. Im sure the two birds had moved on in life. We came up last night for a visit, just my husband and myself this time. As we sat outside last night I looked up to see the rubberband and scissor birds are back in those two trees. Inside I giggled abit, just knowing that the birds are back to entertain me again for another few months.
I sure hope the rubber band and scissor birds come back again next year.

Chapter 1. I walk down a street and there's a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. It takes forever to get out. It's my fault.

Chapter 2. I walk down the same street. I fall in the hole again. It still takes a long time to get out. It's not my fault.

Chapter 3. I walk down the same street. I fall in the hole again. It's becoming a habit. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

Chapter 4. I walk down the same street and see the deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

Chapter 5. I walk down a different street.

I've decided to start a small space of my own in the internet world.
It will probably be nothing fancy but it's just me. Plain and simple.