There were times when my babies were little that I thought they'd never grow up. I can't believe I ever thought that.
This is Dawson a few years back. When he was toothless, chunky and oh so edible...
The kids were dressing up the other day and he came out with this wig on. I immediately thought of the photo from long ago and had to take his picture in the same chair.
Here he is at almost 4 years old (FOUR!!) and around six months old.
Sorry for the blurry picture. I didn't notice until he had run off and got lost in the costume bucket.....dressed in some other funky get up.
Why do they have to grow up so fast? Please can somebody answer that?
Dylan's piano teacher, Miss Juli, rocks. She recently put together a Blues concert/Chili feed for those of her students who wanted to participate. She hires a few of her friends as the back up band and her students get to play with them.
They all play some kind of 12-bar blues while the band tries to play along with them. They were able to rehearse for a few minutes earlier in the evening so the band knew what to expect. This first video is Dylan playing the blues.
Miss Juli rocked the beat a bit too...
This was Dylan's second and final song. A cute little diddy called Just Stompin'
Although he was a bit embarrassed, he did so good.
We've been looking for a piano for quite some time now. Dylan's been taking lessons for a couple of years and he's always used a keyboard. It was certainly better than nothing, but it was time.
Since we I am picky about colors and such, it's taken quite a while to find one (to our liking) in our price range. Keith and I have been looking and looking on Craig's List and finally found one!
It seems Charlie's pretty fond of it too.
Although, Charlie likes just about anything. Including stroller rides and being zipped into a very small animal carrier. He even plays the piano from time to time. He's a curious one.
I've always thought how neat it was to see my nieces and nephews sit at their piano multiple times throughout the day and play. Some of them play and play and play. That did NOT happen at our house with a keyboard. It just didn't. But, now that we have a piano right in the middle of our living area, it's happening! Especially my Karly. It calls her name and she sits and plays. Plays the songs that her brother has proudly taught her. She will be starting lessons here pretty soon too, and couldn't be more excited about it.
It saddens me to think that these are the ONLY two pictures I took while on a recent girls getaway. SUCH a bummer.
Several of us girls went to jackpot again and had another awesome trip.
Here we are, at least some of us, eating all kinds of junk at 1:00 a.m. We were busy workin' the craps table all night and came back to the room famished. Literally. We hadn't eaten in hours. Gambling can do that to you.
The other girls were in another room catching some zzz's.
Here I am, proudly displaying my 200.00 winnings. It was one of thee most exciting wins ever! To some thats a measley amount, but to me? Huge.
For those of you who know how to play Deal or No Deal, I not only got a chance to 'play' the game (for you had to get three silver cases in a row - not easy) I picked THEE case with the biggest amount in it!! What are the chances that out of 20 cases, I would pick the best one? Not only did I do that, but I turned down the banker FIVE times! Even when he offered me 120.00! I thought with only three cases left, and the BIG amount still up there, that maybe....just maybe I had the big amount in my lucky number nine case? By the time my case opened to show the hidden amount, I was on my feet jumping up and down with 20 or more spectators. I immediately called Keifer and then my mom. I knew she'd be proud of me. After all, she's the one who taught me how to jump and scream after winning ;o)
Keifer was, indeed, very happy. When I do things like this, he's more willing to let me go again.
We spent the day playing games in our room, laughing a lot, eating and gambling. WithOUT little rugrats to tend to. It was quite nice. A day self serving and total relaxation.
There was a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always there for her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see the world, I would marry you.'
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One day, someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages came off, she was able to see everything, including her boyfriend. He asked Her,'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?' The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them for the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.
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Her boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine.'
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This is how the human brain often works when our status changes. Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who was always by their side in the most painful situations.
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Life is a Gift
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Today before you say an unkind word - Think of someone who can't speak.
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Before you complain about the taste of your food - Think of someone who has nothing to eat.
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Before you complain about your husband or wife - Think of someone who's crying out to GOD for a companion.
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Today before you complain about life - Think of someone who went too early.
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Before whining about the distance you drive - Think of someone who walks the same distance with their feet.
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And when you are tired and complain about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your Job.
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And when depressing thoughts seem to get you down - Put a smile on your face and think: you're alive and still Around.
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This came across my inbox this week and I wanted to share it here. A few little words can change your whole perspective on life. I want to remember them as I freely live from day to day.
This was a first for us. We were all lardin' out, watching a movie while yet again, the Winbergs were here, and Cora pointed outside in the backyard and said "Does this happen often?"
I was shocked! No, it hadn't ever happened in our own backyard. I felt bad for these guys, cause they were trying to get on the other side of the fence, where the New York Canal runs. (I know, NEW YORK Canal in the middle of country bumpkin' Ville? That couldn't be a more out of place name)
They moved back and forth in my backyard and then went into the front yard and stood in the street for hours. We don't have fences on the sides of our house, so anyone, or thing can wander back there. Kind of scary huh?
I believe this was the same lil' family that I almost ran over a few days before. It seems they like it 'round these parts. And, they think that whenever and wherever they want to cross a street, they can. As if everyone will stop for them. As if.
When my children are sitting staring blankly at the t.v. while rapidly moving their fingers, I get the wiggly feeling. A feeling where I want to go over and take the controller out of their hands and throw it as hard as I can at the wall until it shatters into a hundred pieces. You know, like in the movies where someone is trying to make a phone call and someone else doesn't want them to...so they yank the phone cord from the wall and chuck it really hard? That's what I feel. Sometimes.
Of course, I would never DO that...but I'm just keepin' it real.
BUT, if we're talking about Guitar Hero? I don't feel like that. Nope. I like that game. The drums, in particular. It seems the Winbergs do too. Even the Craiger. Can you believe that? We couldn't get him off of it! In fact, after he played it a few times, he and Meg went in and ordered one for themselves to be delivered to their house by the time they got home.
They liked it that much.
It truly is addicting. I bet if the least likely person, say, my MOM were to play it? She would even like it. I dare anyone to try it.
Oh, and one more thing....Happy Birthday Sister Judy!
Another one of our outings was spent at Sandy Point Beach. That fountain is pulling water from the bottom of Lucky Peak lake and is extremely cold. Brain freeze cold.
We had a picnic and fun day on the beach. Here, we have Megan and Ashely in the boat and Adam and Lexi in the background.
My lil' Feef. Feef-a-lie-tis.
A bunch of us girls relaxed on the shore and watched everyone else row, row, row their boats.
Or tubes. Madison has a sun stigma. If it's shining whatsoever, her lil' eyes cannot open. They just don't work.
Four of our river rats...Dylan, Chase and in the background, Kyle and Brandon
We call this one Little Miss Independent. She is happy as a lark all by her lonesome. She's had several years of practice, I guess.
Keifer taking me out for a little spin. He had wanted to go under that arctic fountain and I told him that I would go with him. But....as soon as I got within misting distance, I changed my mind. He loves me anyway. Even though I change my mind. A lot.
"Excuse me, do you know where the weight room is?"
Name that movie.
Katelyn Sue getting so big.
She wasn't liking this too much. Time for a bottle and a nap. Her two favorite things.
Some of the bigger kids playing cards while listening to Meg's ipod. Poor Kyle. Just starving for attention.
See what I mean?
This is SO disgusting. It makes my stomach turn. I didn't need him to tell me that it smelled like fish to know that it provided a stinch none to pleasant.
My (pretend) twin sister and I.
Although, not planned, we had the same suit and dress. And we loved every minute of it ;o)
Today is Lukas' 18th birthday. It was really hard for me to type that. 18. Wow.
Most of you know that the Winbergs came to visit us last week. I would have posted this sooner, but it seems they left an ugly, miserable, debilitating virus here. It got ahold of me something fierce and I haven't wanted to look at a computer, much less work on one.
We had lots of fun doing random things. My favorite? Floating the Boise (that's Boy-see, not Boys-ee) River.
We haven't ever floated it, so it was a first for all of us. Well, I guess I did float it when I was a kid but don't remember it all that well. Actually, my sister may have as a wee one, too?
Since there were 16 of us, we had all sorts of floatation devices. Some on tubes, some in rafts.
This was Jeff's boat. The riders? Jeff, Jill, Donna, Aubrey and Brandon. For those of you who don't know, Jeff is Jill's friend.
Mendi had the pleasant experience of having these two little rugrats in her boat. The one in the blue polka dots? The one on the right? With the name of Madison? SHE is the one I blame for the horrible sickness that is upon me. The little toot. She must have picked it up in Yellowstone, where they spent the week before coming to see us. She then went on to give it to her entire family and oh, how I feel for them. So sorry Winbergs!
We've heard for the past two and a half years how "dangerous" it is to float the river. How you should "never take kids". It kind of turned us off to the idea. I hadn't heard that from a lot people, mainly just one. Others said it was SO not a big deal. It was almost boring, it was so calm. And, calm it was. I wish that it would have been a bit more wild and Karly Rae? she wanted "MORE CRAZY STUFF". She didn't like the slow stuff. She's my rambunctious one. The one who likes wild rides. As in wild theme park rides, wild and crazy rides on the four wheeler, and anything else that will give her a thrill.
This guy had a rash on both of his arms ten minutes into it. He was paddling like a mad man trying to get to the different floaters. He kept asking "do you like baths or showers" It didn't take long for me to figure out what he meant.
The Craiger
Keifer was trying to surf on the River Rat. Or, at least stand upright. It didn't work to well. He was in the water milliseconds after this shot was taken.
About half way down, we passed a beachy area. Several people wanted to get out and take a rest. Here we are, convening.
Kyle, trying not to think about the PAIN that is his rashy arms.
Dawson, just being his cute lil' self.
And, of course, our little posers
A little while longer, we saw a cool rope swing. We just had to hit that. Well, not "we", but most of them. I believe this is Kyle, showing us what he's got.
Brandon taking a shot at it with Uncle Craig there to catch them.
My brave Karly Rae taking off. My, my...she did not get that from me. That's for sure. Do you know how cold that water is?
I can't really tell who this is? One of the lil' Chillins. It looks like a pigtail of Karly's?
Here's a video of a couple of them flyin' high. As you're watching this, remember that I am standing waste high in ice cold water while filming this. It got to the point where I may have even said "I CAN'T FEEL MY LEGS!!!!" For the love of my viewers....I endure very uncomfortable things. ALL for you.
While camping recently, the kids were pleasantly surprised with Auntie Jill's contribution.
As usual, she brought them something super special. They love Auntie Jill.
Who woulda thought to bring a pinata camping?!! Yep, you guessed it. The candy bringin', four wheelin', attention giving, super cool Auntie.
Obviously, she's not my kids aunt, but that's what they call her. It's either 'Miss Jill' or 'Auntie Jill'.....they choose Auntie
The bigger of the kids needed a blindfold, 'cuz Pedro, or Peter, was NOT made in America. He needed to be handled very delicately...and we wanted all the kids to get a swing at him.
Karly wanted to use the honor system. I couldn't blame her. I wouldn't have wanted someone else's pants (the crotch of the pants, no less) wrapped around MY face either. I didn't make her.
I didn't get a picture of Dylan completely demolishing poor Pedro with one swing. It was too exciting. I forgot that I was holding my camera. I may have even dropped it trying to get all the candy.
The other day, the kids and I stopped at a little park to waste some time before we had to be somewhere...
I thought it would be cool to take some pictures. You know, 'cuz I never do that.
This boy loves to climb trees. If we find ourselves even remotely close to a tree, he will run like sixty and immediately climb it.
Since I thought it was such a cool picture, I put Karly up there too. She, too, would follow her brother up each one of those trees, but her momma hinders her many times.
Most of the time, her attire is not appropriate tree climbing. As you can see here.
It's a good excuse for me ;o) Even though the reason I "hinder" it is because I'm afraid of what might happen to those cute little legs and arms when they hit the ground, her clothes and shoes usually give me an excuse.
And then, of course, ALL of them want a turn to be the photographer. Dawson's got some skills....
Dylan too
I haven't figured out how to take my own picture yet....This was the best I could do. Sorry for the nasty armpit shot.
Since I wanted one with ALL of us and there wasn't a soul around, I thought I'd try the timer setting on my camera. I wasn't going to post this picture at all....because, well....look at me. I look like a giant who is trying to steal the spotlight from my children. What kind of mother does that? I didn't set it up right, and my kids were wanting to go climb trees, so I only tried this once.
The reason I'm posting it is because can Dawson be any more precious? I had him standing up behind Karly, but I guess as I came tumbling down in front of them, he felt the need to squat down with me. And look at the excitement on his little face. Too cute.
This one does not like to climb trees, or even sit in them for that matter. Even when his mom bribes him with really swell stuff so I can get a picture of all three of them. Nope. Instead? He found a roly poly. Even though you can't see it, he's proudly displaying it.
When he's not in a tree, he's by the water. He's fascinated with rivers and canals.
These are my favorite boots ever. And, the best part? We got them for a dollar at a garage sale.
Even though she is done with ballet, she still loves to show me the different positions. I believe this is third position?
Being able to go to the park is definitely a privilege to me. The warm sun, beautiful landscaping, green trees. For soon, once again, we will be stuck in our home. A prisoner to the cold, merciless, hard winter.
Sister Pat is a special, special lady....There aren't many her age (or younger for that matter) that would plan and SO enjoy a "Princess Day" with three little girls.
Which is exactly what she did....
Here, Lexi (who is FIVE by the way) is reading Sister Pat's handmade invitation. The writing is in cursive and not easily read by five year olds. This little girl didn't have any problems. She's smart, that one.
Karly wanted to bring her invitation. Just in case they wouldn't let her in the door.
The front of her invitation that she carried around for days preceding the event.
While these two waited for the third and final guest, they wanted me to take some pictures.
It wasn't long and Belle, er, Aubrey showed up. All dressed in yellow.
Because I guess she thought Sister Pat's house needed more yellow.
The three special guests of honor happy as can be.
I'm sure this will be something they will never forget.
And, in case Karly forgets, I've placed her invitation in her memory book.
I'm so glad Sister Pat started this tradition. It seems Karly has a lot to learn in princess etiquette. Heavens to Betsy. First on the agenda....how to sit like a lady
It was certainly a special day. Hopefully their 5 and 6 year old brains can retain this memory.
Many of you know how different our Charlie is. I know some of you couldn't care less....but, to those of you who do....here's a snipet
As you read in this post, I believe he's part canine. Even more so now.
As content as could be even with Dawson covering him up and hitting him in the eyeball with one of his toys. Not to mention the piling up all of the other toys on his tummy.
you can see a small part of Dawson's hand winding up to whack him.
When Charlie wants to get away for awhile, he kicks it on Nan's bed. In fact, since we open up the windows at different times during the day/night, he gets stuck in there sometimes. The wind closes the door and if he's in there, he gets to stay in there, until one of us asks "have you seen Charlie in awhile?" If someone has to say that, you know he's locked up somewhere, 'cuz he's always around. A time or two, we even found him in a closet. Trapped. Stuck. For hours ;o(
Most cats would rather be locked in a closet all day than to endure this kind of treatment....but, I'm most certain that Charlie would much rather lie like this. He's that cool.
I LOVE comments. They warm my heart, soul and toes.
I don't think I need to mention that the lack thereof is quite disappointing to me. If it weren't for my loyal Salgado girls or Miss Catie, I wouldn't get any! I know there are bunches who look at my blog, for I have a (really cool) tracking system (muah ha ha) on my website (and no, not the stat counter) which allows me to see how many visits/pageviews hit it...
I have to admit, it is a lot easier to lurk only, for I do it, too. Sometimes. BUT, I also try to leave comments because I know the warm fuzzies it brings me when others do it.
The reason for this post? I received a comment from "anonymous" on my last post and would SO love to know who left it. Sometimes people just forget to type their name at the end of their comment, totally understandable. A lil' tip for you...instead of choosing "anonymous" when you leave it, chose "name" and simply type in your name. That way, I'll never have to guess who came by to visit and actually took the few seconds to show me some love!
Thank you for stopping by to see me. Now get to steppin'.
I'm just a mom...a homeschooling mom who is striving to raise my spawn to be responsible, pleasant, God fearing adults with the Lord as my helper, my guide and my constant companion.
