its ashleigh!

Family Night

We are a family of games. I grew up playing games with my family but Rusty's family didn't. He always tells me that they would play rummy if the lights went out during a storm but that was the extent of their game playing, but he loves to play. We have card games, board games, video games, you name it we have at one time or another probably played it. I know some families have family night that they set aside just for things like that. We are so busy with sports and kids and everything else that we have never been able to set a certain night just for that but we are working on it. Ashleigh is grounded (again, will the agony ever end?) and Friday night she asked if we could all play Uno. Of course we couldn't find the cards so Blake went with her and they ran to the store and got a set. We have played every night since then. If you don't know my family then you don't want to play cards with them. You have to guard your cards with your life because whoever happens to be sitting next to you can be guaranteed to be looking at your cards and conspiring with the person on the other side of them. Last night our game lasted until 11:45, I didn't think it would ever end. The following are pictures from tonight.

This is Ashleigh letting everyone know not to mess with her, she is armed with a draw 4 and is not afraid to use it.

Rusty and Blake letting Ashleigh know that they are not afraid of her, they have their own ammunition.

Wayne laughing at the fools he had the misfortune to be playing cards with. Isn't he cute.

I am not quite sure what caused that look on Wayne's face, but there were 3 guys at the table and bad smells seem to follow them around. Take pity on Ashleigh and me, take pity.

Well, that ends our 3rd night of cards and I have to say we have had a great time. The tv is off, the phones don't get answered, it's just family time and it has been wonderful. We let so many things get in the way sometimes and we just don't take the time to spend the time together.

Good night.

OH MY GOSH

Do you see what I see?! I am actually blogging and I think it's going to stay this time and not fly off into the great beyond. To catch up a little Blake's lip has healed nicely, Ashleigh is still putting us through teenage stuff (even though I don't remember being this much worry to my parents, actually I know I wasn't) and Wayne is still his normally happy go lucky kid. We went to my great nephew's 1st birthday party last weekend. That's right, I'm a great aunt, I know I look way too young to have a great nephew but yes, yes I do. He is the cutest thing. His name is Mason and after he got over the fact that all of these people were invading his house he was very happy to have everyone there.

My nephew Michael, Mason's daddy, cooking up alot of good food for all of us.

This is my niece Kelly, my nephew Jacob and Michael again.

This is Mason being alot more interested in the cards than the presents.

He was all nice and clean before he got a hold of the cake.

And after, oh yeah this was also after he stuck both feet in it but hey it was his cake. He had a great time.

I wanted to also show you his bedroom. Kelly painted his walls for him and they are amazing. They look like decals but believe me they are the real deal.

This one is on the chair rail next to the window. Aren't they great?

Well, I better go, we are headed out the door. Hopefully, will be able to get back on later tonight, I have more to fill you in on.

Have a great day!

Uh Oh part 2

First off I do not have any idea what is going on with my computer at home. I can log into my blog, I can comment, I can read them but if I want to post, no go. When you are creating a new post you have the icons at the top that change the font, check spelling, attach pictures, etc well they are gone on mine. It won't let me preview or anything. I thought it was something I had done but I can do this on my computer here at work without any problem, so I don't know. The new computer should be ready soon, so yea!!!!

The Uh Oh from the previous post that never happened was about Blake. We had our first real accident with blood. We have been really lucky, no broken bones, stitches etc. so it was bound to eventually happen. He was playing across the street with his best friend. They were playing hide and seek, the front porch was base and Blake was headed to it. Shane was behind him, chasing him, and when he tagged him he pushed forward and Blake fell into the porch, lips first.

I love it, I tell him to just stand there and let me take the picture and this is what I got. The goofy 8 year old grin. Oh, well.

A little close up picture of the injury. Shane went running into his house yelling for his Mom. They took Blake in and cleaned him up and then called me to let me know what had happened. We thought he might need stitches at first for the cut on the inner part of his lip, but the more I looked at it I don't think they could really have done anything so we put ice on it, neosporin and he's doing great. Other than that things have been pretty quiet around here.

Blake and Rusty have had 2 baseball practices and things are going good with that. A friend of Rusty's coaches his daughter's softball team and he asked Rusty if he would mind helping him out with that, so Rusty will be doing softball and baseball. We have very busy springs and falls around our house but we like it that way.

Have a great day!

UH OH

Get ready to cry

Go to www.cjcphoto.com/can/ , this will do you in. Make sure you have a case of kleenex on hand, you are going to need it.
Have a great day!!!

I'M BACK AND THE TITLE OF THE MISSING POST WAS "I'VE HIT THE BIG TIME"

I have a confession to make, I love to play the lottery. I don't spend alot but I like to play when it gets big. Like 1 million isn't alot, but I normally remember to play when it's really big. Like right now, the mega million is at around $360,000,000. While we were out Friday evening I told Rusty we had to stop and get my tickets. He just laughs and shakes his head at me. He constantly tells me that I will never win, I'm married to him and he has terrible luck. I told his he has to have faith and believe that I am going to win. Well, I bought my ticket and then kind of forgot about it. We were getting ready to go out Saturday afternoon and I remembered it. I got my ticket out, Rusty was still shaking his head, and I logged onto the web site. Take a look at the following picture.....





This is me with my winning ticket. I won $150.00. Isn't that great!!! I was so excited, all of a sudden Mr. Little Faith was saying "hey WE won $150.00." What we? He didn't want to play, he KNEW I wasn't going to win. Whatever, I won, I won, I won. Now what to do with my winnings? It was an extremely hard decision to make, all that money. Okay, we made the mature decision and it's going to pay for 2 of Ashleigh's credits at the Community College. She is already dual enrolled through the high school, but we have to get her scholarship application turned in by the 16th. She is going to attend the Community College for 2 years and then transfer. She wants to teach kindergarden.
Please keep my sister in law's brother in law (her sister's husband) in your prayers. He had a heart attack on Saturday and had to have bypass surgery Saturday evening. He is in ICU but seems to be doing ok. He's had heart problems before so this was maybe a little more scary than normal.
Good night.

Just a thought

I got forward this today in an email and it really made me stop and think. So, I thought I would pass it on, there is a great message and lesson.

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet pilot in Vietnam After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience! One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk You were shot down!" "How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb.. "I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today." Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept wondering what he had looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat; a bib in the back; and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said 'Good morning, how are you?' or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor." Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know. Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. He also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory -- he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety. Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.I am sending you this as my way of thanking you for your part in packing my parachute And I hope you will send it on to those who have helped pack yours! Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word.. Maybe this could explain it: When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do -- you forward jokes. And to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A forwarded joke. So my friend, next time when you get a joke, don't think that you've been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile, just helping you pack your parachute........
Have a great day and stay in touch..... Amen