The Burke Boys and their Mommy

Our New Lawnmower

2010-05-27T11:44:00.000-04:00

Aidan loves riding the lawnmower. He literally falls asleep riding this loud thing. When I say loud, I mean loud. This is a Steiner lawnmower and my husband bought it from a guy who bought it at a state equipment auction. This mower has been great, and well now, we use it to soothe our little guy to sleep when he fights it. One little sidenote, we did add the head gear to block the noise from his little ears. How cute does he look, chubby cheeks and all.

Changes happening at the house, Again

2010-05-20T12:10:00.000-04:00

I am constantly in a decorating frenzy in this house. With my job, I come across lots of neat and unusual items to decorate with, and let's face it, I have a hard time getting rid of lots of these items. I am on the move to clear lots of my stuff out, and I have been succeding.

Teresa

Bathtime in black and white

2010-05-20T12:06:00.000-04:00

Aidan loves to bath but mostly just drink the water, notice in the picture. What do you say. I figure he is not the 1st baby to do this, and surely won't be the last.

Got Yogurt!

2010-05-19T15:37:00.002-04:00

I have to say, Aidan loves yogurt, especially peach. Lately these days he wants to feed himself all the time. I really don't like for him to since he is so messy, but sometimes you just have to, especially when they look so cute at it, like this instance, just after bathtime, eating Yoplait Peach Harvest yogurt, his favorite!

A New Beginning!

2010-03-16T15:01:00.003-04:00

Over the last few months I have left my job as a medical transcriptionist to purse a lifelong dream of owning my own shop. I am now the proud owner of a little shop in downtown Louisa, Ky., called Urban Farmhouse. We opened our doors in December 2009 and have not looked back. I spend most of my time finding unique and unusual items to bring into my shop, and now recently, we are online, http://www.theurbanfarmhouse.com/. You can find many new and 1-of-a-kind items here and items added weekly. Feel free to check out my shop blog at http://www.thefarmhouseshoppe.blogspot.com/.

Over the last few months Gage has turned 13 and now Aidan is 1.

Here are a few pics of what we have been up to lately.

Gage is growing into a handsome young man and will start the 8th grade next year, just 3 more years and he will be driving a car. Aidan is a feisty little fellow with a temper. He has been walking since 10 months and get along wherever he wants. We love having him added into our busy life. He brings us joy to no end.

Teresa

NO, I AM NOT DEAD!

2010-01-18T16:21:00.002-05:00

Wow, long time since blogging. That is how it is being busy as a beaver. They say idle hands are the devil's playground, well no playground here. So much going on in our life lately, Aidan walking everywhere since January 2, 2010, at 10 months, that was 1 big event and me opening my own antique and home decor shop on December 5, 2009. I am still transcribing, just on a part time basis now. This post has no pictures attached since I am doing this from the shop. Hopefully I can get some posted next time around. The shop is doing pretty well with the 1st week of January being slow, but really to be expected, lots of snow and freezing temperatures here. I actually love being a shop owner; however, it is very time consuming, but after Aidan gets a little bigger he can come here with me.

Seasons of Change

2009-11-04T07:50:00.003-05:00

The seasons are changing, the weather is growing colder. This morning the frost was very heavy. It seems this all falls right in with things in my life at this moment. I have not blogged for days, not really wanting to, no desire to, knowing I need to get current posts up for what the baby is doing, but no desire. Do we lose desire in our hearts? Do we fall? Yes, I think we do. I have been reading many wonderful spiritual blogs and reflecting. Reflecting on myself, my life, my relationships, and I am not liking my reflection. I am standoffish toward people, not really wanting people to visit, not really wanting to work. Maybe I am tired, maybe I am weary. Mostly trying to figure things out in my head, needing to draw closer to the Lord, seeking him and asking forgiveness and praising him for his blessings that abound.

Life as a mother is a hard life but a wonderful and truly blessed life. You tend to lose yourself as many of you know. There is no time for you, and you do miss that but still love your children. There are always the what ifs, the not knowings, the guilt, the anxiety, the stress, the sleeplessness and worry. Worry is a big player for me. I am a worrier. The Lord teaches us not to worry but I again do not take heed. I find myself struggling every day with household stuff, work, spending time with my husband, with my older son, keeping all things in balance. I am not sure there is a balance. Lately I am overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with all my duties. Am I trying to do too much. Probably so. I am exhausted by the time the day is up, often forgetting to pray at night or even falling asleep while I pray. Have I learned to just relax, I am trying. Have I learned to trust the Lord that all will be okay, I am trying. You see, I believe the Lord has taken care of us more times than we can imagine. I believe that strongly. I have examples. But still, I find myself worrying about things. I keep telling myself, the Lord's Will will be done. But here I am again, creeping back into this state of mind again. I know the Devil knows my weaknesses and he plays on them. I pray for strength, I pray for guidance. I know the Lord is with me. I seek him. I call out to him. I ask him for forgiveness. I must trust in the Lord with all my might.

Teresa

Happy Halloween with Crawling with a Birthday Shoutout!

2009-10-31T12:19:00.002-04:00

Officially on Wednesday evening Aidan began crawling, just like that. He just decided once and for all I am going to go wherever I want if you won't take me. I have video but no time to post much. He is sleeping and I am trying to catch up on housework. Is that possible? I don't think so. It is raining here today and the leaves are falling. We did trick-or-treat on Thursday night and going to again in the city tonight if the rain stops but not looking promising. Aidan has also been for about 2 weeks going from a crawling position or on his belly to sitting, just like that too. And the diaper changes, manic I tell you. He has a full-blown fit when trying to get a diaper changed. He twists, turns, rolls and crawls away exposing his little bottom and front to the whole world. That is a boy for you though. Many diapers these days are crooked, sagged, have the thong thing going on with 1 side up his butt crack. Hopefully they will still catch everything.

Happy Birthday to me and Happy Halloween to you guys.
Teresa

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

2009-10-28T07:54:00.002-04:00

This is my bathroom. This is my bathroom on drugs. Not really. This is my bathroom with a little plumbing issue. Pretty, huh. Yeah right! This is our powder room right off from the garage. We have had a little leak with the sink for a while so he just turned the water off so nobody could use the sink. Last night after I showered Darrell came downstairs to find this bathroom floor soaked with water. Oh no, a plumbing leak at 11 o'clock at night. Whaat next? Anyway he was just bumfuzzled as to where this was leaking. Keep in mind we have had torrential rain all day, and I kept saying this sink backs up when it rains. No, No, that can't be it. Well, long story short, that was it.

We have a new house with a new septic system, a system that was approved by the health department, passed all inspections, and is enough of a system for probably 3 houses, but the crazy thing is they base it on the bedrooms and not how many bathrooms you have; soimething about that shows how many people are living in your house. Makes no sense to me, but whatever, that is what we have. We have these little things called gray water beds, which in the beginning Darrell told the inspector he did not feel were enough for our house. Everything like sinks and dishwater, a dishwasher and I even think your washing machine runs into these. Forgive me if I am wrong. I don't have my plumbing license yet. Working on that though with the low rise jeans though. Back to the story, every time it rains we have a couple sinks back up. What happens is the gray water beds become saturated and cannot hold any more gray water and when that happens the water has to go somewhere, so instead of going into the gray water beds, it just backs up in the line until the line can hold no more and then into this nice little bathroom sink, which by the way is broken now, and the pipe in the wall, broken too. Nice. That means cutting a new hole in the wall and repairing it with drywall. Did I mention I hate drywall. It gets everywhere in your house. All over everything. No matter how much you cover and close doors, dust everywhere. I hate it I tell you, hate it.

Anyway last night at around 11 p.m. we were trying to figure this all out. After the problem was solved, I said just add it to the list of mishaps around here. But unfortunately all other little projects are put on hold until this is fixed, and I guess it has to be done today. Darn rain. I was wanting my little breakfast nook project finished but I guess we do need a little thing called water.

Moral of the story is, even though you think you have a new house and there are no issues, trust me when I tell you that is not correct. We have a master bath that is still not finished, painting to be finished, trim to be finished, electrical work that was paid for with hard earned money that the electrician skipped out on (we don't have any safety issues thus far unless you mean the lights going on and off on their own and other little bizarre electrical things that happen here like some lights in 1 room going way down and the room just adjacent staying completely bright, we don't have any issues, at least I hope not). We have our issues all the time. Shoulda bought an old house that way we would expect them.

Terea

Baskin Robbins Makin it Right

2009-10-27T10:03:00.003-04:00

UPDATE: Seems like I got another Baskin Robbins General Manager's attention. The cake did taste decent, and I have gotten other cakes from Baskin Robbins that were good. We LOVE their ice cream although it is a bit pricey. The ice cream cake I ordered before from Baskin Robbins looked exactly like what we chose from the picture. I mean come on, this cake does not even closely resemble the picture. I think most people would agree with that.

Well I wasn't gonna blog today, just a little down, not much to say, well lots to say just not going to here. Got several emails from Baskin Robbins Company via Twitter expressing their concern, and then a message from the guy that owns our local Baskin Robbins, Eric Clevenger. He was extremely sorry and giving us a 45 dollar gift card. Wow, that is great. At least they stand by their cakes.

Teresa

The Ugliest Cake Ever

2009-10-26T07:54:00.005-04:00

This is the cake I ordered from Baskin Robbins in Louisa, Ky for Gage's B-Day Party. Isn't it lovely. Very nicely decorated. Somebody spent some time on this cake, that is for sure. This is the cake we wanted.
This is the cake we got. Isn't it ugly. Just about the ugliest cake I have ever seen from a professional so-called cake decorator.

I am not sure if you can tell from the pictures but the cake was leaning and just about to fall over, and it was leaning before the 15-minute trip home. I kinda suspected this would happen. When I placed the order the girl kept asking, "Does the spider have to be on the side or can I put it on the top." I told her that did not matter, and she proceeded to tell me some lady freaked out over the spider not being on the side. I got a little worried at that point. Next thing you know the phone is ringing again, and the girl says she is the cake decorator and she is not going to be working on Saturday so she will have to get 1 of the other employees to decorate the cake. My instinct told me to just forget about the cake, but I thought surely since they all work there they can decorate this cake. And she also says she will have to charge extra for the spiders since the girl can definitely not do the spiders on the cake. I got another sickening feeling. I told her I had my own plastic spiders and I would not pay extra for spiders, again she said okay. I worked all day Saturday and Darrell picked the cake up. He was more concerned about the size and said just let it be. Let it be, this cake was 39.99, and she did put the spiders on there and not charge extra for them, probably trying to soothe over the fact the cake looks like a crap. Yep, I said it, crap. She even said the candy corn would be on the roof, well no candy corn. I have emailed Baskin Robbins about this cake, and today, I am posting it to the Cake Wrecks blog. I sure hope she accepts it. Please accept it. It deserves to be there.

Teresa

UPDATE: I had to add this. Ice cream and cake start at only 9.99, what for like 2 scoops. My cake was 39.99.

Today Is The Day

2009-10-24T08:23:00.003-04:00

Today is the day we have the bonfire for Gage's Birthday. This is slowly but surely getting out of hand as do most of his parties. We did keep the list short but the food was a little more than I wanted to spend to just feed 21 people. The weather was supposed to be rainy but they have changed the forecast. Today only 20% chance of rain so keep your fingers crossed. If it does rain, we will just move inside and grill the hot dogs. Our family does love to have bonfires and roast weenies and make S'Mores. This is definitely on the list tonight, and ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. I am not going to go into detail about the ordering fiasco with the ice cream cake until I see it. I am thinking it might look pretty pitiful but I hope note, but wait, it better not for $39.99. All this entails a little spider detail. Anyway, lots to do today. Me, I am working today so I need to finish up early if at all possible. Darrell has the responsibility of all the cleaning to be done today plus taking my mom to get her cabinets ordered for her house. And Gage, he is the decor man. Believe me, I can trust him with this. He does not like things to look too tacky, just a little tacky, LOL. I definitely plan on pics of this bonfire and hopefully will get them posted in a few days.

Enjoy Your Saturday and God Bless You All!
Teresa

Fall Decorations, Show Us Your Life

2009-10-23T10:20:00.003-04:00

UPDATE: Make sure to scroll down a bit, I had a little photo blogging problem this morning, and actually could not get Kelly's Logo for Show Us Your Life to show up. I finally gave up. Some of my pictures are in a separate post. TGIF!

These pictures here are from this year but not of the new mums. I am not sure where they were when I took these pictures. LOL

2009-10-23T10:07:00.002-04:00

This is all part of Kelly's Show us Your Life post. These are from last year. We never got much fall decorations up this year with the baby and trying to get the house painted still. Are we ever going to get caught up? I don't think so. I did do a few things this year outside but not much, and the mums look pretty bad now, but at least this year we had bigger mums. I love fall decorating and usually we go all out for this, and actually the year before even had more decorations for fall and Halloween, but unfortunately got no pictures of that. She this is all I have.

By the way, today Aidan is 8 months old, growing like a weed. This morning while his bath water was running he was standing next to the tub and raising his little leg to climb in. He loves to bath. We had to give up the kitchen sink a bit ago since he was soaking everything. He still is not crawling forward, just a few little crawls, but goes backward pretty good, but mostly loves to walk around or pull up and stand. He does pull himself across the floor, so maybe that will be all he does. He still has 4 teeth and working on about 3 right now. He loves to eat. Last night in particular a guy in KFC could not believe I was giving him biscuit bites. He said he was not going to give his daughter anything that she could possibly get chocked on ever, and of course we all laughed. I think he thought I was crazy when I mentioned how many crackers Aidan eats. People, they do dissolve, but I too remember thinking the same thing when they asked me if I gave Gage crackers. I was thinking he would choke too death. Nope, he did not. Aidan is mostly wearing 9 to 12 months but lots of things are 18 months and especially nothing with feet in it. He is just too long. And boy can he move that walker. Those little feet with his little cankles (fat ankles for anybody who does not know), can move him like you have never seen. My toes stay sore most of the time. Aidan is still loving to play peek-a-boo.

It is raining here today and supposed to all weekend. Yuck on that, I have a big bonfire planned for Gage's Birthday Party tomorrow evening, so back to work for me so I can finish up.

Teresa

Happy Birthday Little Man

2009-10-22T07:51:00.000-04:00

Today is the day my 1st born son becomes a teenager, a moment forever changed in his life. I have thought about this day for a while now. Will it be any different to be the parent of a teenager? I hope not. Parenting this child has been wonderful. He is an awesome child. He is a great big brother. He is a great student. He is a wonderful helper. How did I get so lucky?

I remember vividly when 1st thinking I was pregnant with him, how much we wanted a baby. I remember when they told me he was a boy. We knew immediately his name would be Gage. I remember loving being pregnant with him, not having a care in the world and eating myself into an oblivion. I remember laboring forever with him and then ultimately having a c-section to bring him into this world. I remember being scared too death not knowing. I remember when he was actually born, not crying, just looking around at us. I remember thinking to myself my son looked like E.T. with his neck all stretched out and skin wrinkly the way the doctor was holding him. I remember holding him for the 1st time, feeling his skin, looking at all his toes and fingers and just in awe of him. I remember falling deeply in love with this child from the beginning. I remember the nightly feedings, wondering if I was going to survive and this was harder than I had expected. I can remember his little face when he turned 1, how cute and adorable he was. I remember Christmases with him saying "look daddy."

All these memories bring me to tears this morning as I type this. My little man is growing up. I look at pictures from last year and his face has matured, he has grown taller, much taller. This all makes me want to freeze time and keep him with me. I know he will move forward in life, go to college, probably get married and start his own family, but this little man will always be my baby, and I will forever cherish these memories.

Happy 13th Birthday Gage.

Love,
Mom

The Great Pumpkin House and Its 3000 Pumpkins

2009-10-21T14:49:00.000-04:00

These are photos of a house in Kenova, Wv. This man, Ric Griffith, has been carving these pumpkins since around 1978, and usually with the help of volunteers he carves a little over 3000 pumpkins a year to put on this display. The pictures here do not do it justice. Seeing this is a remarkable site. Pumpkins are literally everywhere. We visited this in 2007 and were in awe. The pumpkin display is magnificent. They are all lit by clear Christmas bulbs. He even has a display in the back showing how they carve and preserve their pumpkins. There are pumpkins with every design and shape you can imagine. There are even pumpkins playing to the beat of music and according to what instrument is carved on them. People young and old flock to this old Victorian house, and believe me the house in and of itself is amazing. I just called the City of Kenova and Ric is again doing this amazing creation again this year, and we are going. I can't wait, and I will have my camera handy. I do have pictures of this but they are printed, and well, I am just too lazy to scan, as a matter of fact never bothered to install my printers scanning properties on my computer. Oh well.

And tomorrow, come back, somebody in my little family is having a major milestone tomorrow. I still cannot believe it. Meanwhile, get to carving, maybe you can catch up with Ric, Not!

Getting Rid of the Laundry Hamper

2009-10-20T08:17:00.002-04:00

I have always had 2 laundry hampers in my utility room, and well honestly, they both look pretty bad at this point. I decided a couple weekends ago to let 1 of them go, let the trash man take it away. Well, actually we dont' have trash pickup where I live. We have to take all of our trash into the city to the community trash drop off, and even better, it is free. Well not free entirely since we do pay taxes. Anyhoo, back to the story. My thinking was if I get rid of 1 I might keep the laundry done since it would be filled up all the time. Well, needless to say, the laundry is never done. We can do it all and turn around 30 minutes later and have another pile. My laundry machine goes from early morning, one of the 1st things I do when I get up and usually 1 of the last things I do when I go to bed. What is it with laundry. Now mind you, I don't mind washing it, I just hate putting it away. Any given day here we have baskets of clean, folded laundry needing put away, and sometimes it never gets put away until the basket is empty, and all the stuff needs washed again.

Teresa

Aidan's New Shirt

2009-10-19T10:18:00.003-04:00

Yesterday morning while getting Aidan ready for church, I discovered he had outgrown 3 brand new, never worn, still with tags on them Ralph Lauren shirts. I did get these on sale but still paid good money for them. Looks like an Ebay listing or even perhaps here on my blog. We'll have to see. I proceeded upstairs to get another shirt, and thought maybe this 1. What if it is too big, 18 months and all. Nope, he wore it. It fit. Wow, he has grown a lot in the last 2 weeks. I guess it could be all the KFC mashed potatoes and gravy or even the soup beans he loves. No doubt about it, Aidan loves to eat. He grunts this funny little grunt in between every bit. You just can't feed him fast enough.

Needless to say after church I had to get his picture in his new shirt and jeans. He looked like a little man. Well lately all he does is try to crawl away or attempt to, or play with something next to him. He is just not having these pictures lately, so this is what we got, 1 pretty good picture, and the rest, well see for yourself.

And he is gone....

We sat him back up, gave him his pumpkin...

and he is gone again...

back up again with the pumpking again....

and see you later, to which Bailee is in the background just waiting for this kid to drop some good food.

Teresa

Halloween Jammies

2009-10-16T08:16:00.006-04:00

Lately we have been stuck in the house with rain and cold weather and even a chance of snow. The leaves are turning their awesome colors and the wind is picking up. We have no local pumpkin patch here so after I picked these up at Wal-Mart, a big 1 for Gage and a little tiny 1 for Aidan, I thought I would just snap a few shots in the house just for the sake of it. Aidan was freshly scrubbed, hair in a faux hawk, which is what we have been doing lately to it and having a great laugh at his expense, and wearing his new Baby Gap glow-in-the dark Halloween jammies.
Aren't they just the cutest. He likes to roll his little pumpkin and stand by Gage's pumpkin. Standing is something he is doing a lot lately, and boy can he make that walker go. His little feet carry him as fast as they can, and he can turn it on a dime and back it up, and even looks behind to back it up. Still now crawling yet but Gage did not crawl until around 10 months. He is definitely a mover. He throws everything in the floor to get you to pick it up or let him down in the floor. Aidan is loving him some table food right now, bean, bread, toast, backed potato, cooked potato, sweet potato, you get the drift, basically any kind of carb he can find. He is a kid after my own heart with all the carbs. Hopefully we will have some nice weather in the next few days so I can get some good fall pictures. Gage will be 13 years old on October 22 and Aidan will be 8 months on October 23. I am hoping and keeping my fingers crossed for pictures of them together. This is hard to do as Gage does not want his picture taken and Aidan just wants me to give him the camera. And last but not least, Aidan is becoming quite the mocker. He mocks you if you cough, laugh, squint your eyes and several other things. I tried desperately to get a video of this but my battery was dead so maybe next time.

TGIF and hope everyone has a great weekend.

Teresa

Crumcakes Creations and The Dusty Attic

2009-10-16T07:30:00.005-04:00

Crumcakes Creations is not my business. This belongs to a friend of mine. I asked her nicely yesterday if I could showcase her business on my site, well before I knew this was what Kelly was posting about today. Anyway, Michelle is a very nice girl and does some awesome work. I have seen this work first hand and I usually comment always on what her girls are wearing, and always something she has created. She is a very talented lady with some great skills and great clothes. She is always very busy creating and coming up with new ideas. You can check her out at http://www.crumcakescreations.com/. I am sure you will be very pleased. She can do just about anything you want, and if you don't see it their, email her and she can do it. And the best thing about Michelle's creations, they are cheaper than most I have seen on the Internet. I have been trying to get her to sell on Etsy for quite some time, so hopefully this will help her and give her the nudge she needs to move on over to etsy. I was going to post some pictures of her creations but just could not get them to copy, and I did have her permission.

Now me, as far as making anything, I love to, but unfortunately I just don't have the time. But I do know someone else who is a creator. Lately this person has been doing chalkboards since they are all the craze, and distressed benches, distressed cupboards, and unfortunately I have no pictures except for these very few as everything has sold already, and even things straight out of my house. You can click these pictures for more detail and make them larger, and if you live around the Morehead, Ky area, visit Old School House Antiques as some of these are in my shop, as long as I can keep them there.

Teresa

Infant Loss and Remembrance Day Oct 15-I am thankful

2009-10-15T09:09:00.003-04:00

I think for many of us who have never experienced the loss of a child, we just seem to forget about this day, and to be honest, I knew it existed but never knew the exact day. Well, today is the day, October 15. For those of us who have never experienced such a pain, it might be hard for us to imagine what they are going through. We cry for them, we pray for them and we support them, but then we go on our way, back to our home, back to our family and back to our baby, leaving them alone and arms empty. We need to take the time to be more supporting of these families and never let them leave our thoughts.

I have never lost a child, and I pray that I never do. Both of my children are healthy, and I pray they stay healthy. But this is real and it happens every day. The statistics are unreal when you look them up. This is something that can happen to any of us.

Today hug your children harder and tighter, love them all you can, soak up their energy, kiss their little heads and pray for those who have experienced such a loss. Today, be thankful.

I am thankful,
Teresa

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-14T08:16:00.003-04:00

Giveaway #2 Winner Announced

2009-10-13T08:22:00.002-04:00

Search RANDOM.ORG

True Random Number Service

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:1

Timestamp: 2009-10-13 12:22:05 UTC

I posted the random integer numbers from the site just in case no one believed me, but Amber won again. She is a faithful follower and looks like it has paid off for her. And Amber, since I have your address already, looks like you will be getting 2 great pieces of jewelry coming your way.

Thanks to all who entered, and keep watching. I am working on a great giveaway in the next few days.

Teresa

Giveaway #2

2009-10-12T10:15:00.003-04:00

I was just too busy to get this up this weekend. But here we go. In honor of my dad's B-day this is giveaway #2. I kind of hated giving away jewelry for his B-day but I just did not figure you guys would want camo pants or shotgun shells or even fishing lures. Well, some of you might, but I opted again for jewelery. Honestly, and I can be honest with ya, it is cheap to ship.

Anyway, here we go, this is a nice little silver bracelet with little settings all over the bracelet. The pictures do not do this bracelet justice. By the way, this is about a 20 dollar value.

Just leave me a comment and that is all you have to do. Easie peasie, lemon squeezie.

By the way, I am eating leftover calzone for breakfast. Is that weird? Not here. Yesterday I had cheeseball and crackers. We are kind of weird like that around here.

I will use random integer to draw again for this bracelet on Tuesday morning. All comments will be taken until 8 a.m EST.

By the way, you can always click on the pictures to see a bigger image.

Teresa

Giveaway Results

2009-10-11T08:51:00.002-04:00

It's official, Amber won the necklace. Random integer chose #2, and well Amber was #2. So Amber, just send me an email at teresaburke@foothills.net with your address so I can get this to you. Thanks so much everyone for entering. I enjoyed all the comments and hearing everyone's stories about breast cancer. Don't forget, another giveaway hopefully posted today if Aidan cooperates.

Teresa

Oh My Orange and Green

2009-10-09T09:48:00.004-04:00

I just can't imagine what someone was thinking when they painted this old dressed orange and green. I mean this is like fluorescent green. Oh well, it can be repainted or stripped, and is in great shape. We picked this up for 35 dollars, which is not too bad. If we strip it, we will probably have 35 million in stripper, no just joking. This bring me to the conclusion that some people have some weird paint choices.

Teresa

Don't Forget the Giveaway Ends Today

2009-10-09T09:30:00.002-04:00

Don't Forget, the giveaway ends today at midnight EST. Here is the link.

http://theburkeboys.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-official-and-giveaway.html

Cheap Cotton Sheets and Old Chippy Windows

2009-10-08T09:49:00.003-04:00

I have a thing for old windows. Darrell says I cannot have anymore, but these, well I gave 2 bucks a piece for these, and ctually had more and gave a few to my aunt and sold a few for around 10 dollars, not bad, hey. Anyway, thse my friend are going to become th edoor to my hutch in my dining room. I have big plans for this, and will post a picture of the big reveal, as soon as someone builds this for me. Now that, that could be a while. Don't mind the other junk on the table, just some recent auction finds, more junk for me.

We have lived in this house now about 4 years with no curtains. We are way out from the main road so really did not need them for privacy, but we have wanted them for a more aesthetic look. I really have not been bale to fine what I wanted. I wanted cheap, simple and something that screamed old farmhouse. Well what about cotton sheets. I just bought cheap cotton sheets at Wal-Mart, washed them cause I wanted them to have that cottony look and not a fresh pressed look, bought curtain clips and a rod I liked and there if you have it. I do like curtains to pool on the floor but my little doggie girl Bailee seems to like to pee in the dining room right where the curtain would be. Ugh, gotta love her. What I did to the top was just flip the top of the sheet down where the banding is and clipped there. This allows you to adjust for your length or however long you want them. This was cheap and easy, and no sewing. Can't beat that. I do plan on using these pretty much everywhere in our house. I like things to match that way.

Anyway, as you can see the dining room is a work in progress. It is painted and waiting for the furniture to get placed if I can ever find the time to paint my dining room table and get busy accessorizing. I chose cottage linen as the paint color of choice and will probably follow this through the entire downstairs, but not sure yet.

Teresa

By the way, don't forget the giveaway below.

It's Official and a Giveaway

2009-10-06T09:36:00.006-04:00

This weekend we made the trek to Farmers, Ky. I now have my own little shop in a huge antique mall. We did not get much accomplished as far as decorating goes but hopefully this week we will get all things squared away and decorated. I am truly excited about this as I have dabbled in this stuff for quite a while. I have another little shop that is strictly in another shop and I sell on consignment but this is all my stuff in this little corner of the world. That is actually what it is an 11 x 13 corner of the world. This shop is in an old schoolhouse in Farmers, Ky around Morehead, Ky around the Cave Run Lake area. Saturday we priced and priced, Aidan was dirty from all the sitting in the floor, trying to eat everything he could and Gage was completely and utterly bored out of his mind. Hopefully days to come will not be so bad as we got the bulk of the stuff in there.

October is a favorite time of the year for me. My birthday is in October, Gage's birthday is in October, my dad's birthday is in October, my best friend who passed away from breast cancer her birthday was in October, my beloved uncle whose truck fell on him a few years ago, his birthday was in October, and the list goes on and on. Do you think all babies are born in October. Sure seems like it. I guess those winter months people were kind of busy while stuck in the house, LOL. Anyway, the 1st giveaway is in honor of breast cancer awareness month. This is for Tina who died at the young age of 32. Tina was a wonderful person and a friend I will always cherish. I miss not having her here to talk to daily. I miss getting to share Aidan with her. Tina fought her cancer with a strength beyond compare. She never go up fighting. Her faith was stronger when she passed away than ever. When we go through valleys God will always bring you out stronger than when you went it. So, in honor of Tina and in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, the 1st giveaway is a breast cancer awareness necklace. I hope all who enter the contest wear this with pride and in remembrance of Tina and in remembrance of someone you might know who is fighting breast cancer or has lost their battle with breast cancer.

All you need to do to enter is leave me a comment. The comments for this will end at midnight on Friday, October 9, 2009, with a new giveaway to start that day in honor of my dad so keep checking back. The giveaways will get better and better, I promise.

Teresa

I know this is not a great picture, but I don't have a macro lens for my camera yet. This is a cute little necklace, probably 18 to 20 inches in length but is adjustable with the clasp closure. It has the breast cancer logo with pink little stones in the breast cancer logo

Old Door Turned Headboard

2009-10-05T08:13:00.003-04:00

What is going to happen? I made the bed on Monday morning. Well, the reason be, to show you my headboard. This has been done for quite some time but I kept waiting to post pictures after I got the entire bedroom done. You know, curtains hung, not just bought and laying in the floor, and do I have a great idea for curtains. Hopefully post that tomorrow. Well still not finished with working and taking care of my babies and housework. So here is the headboard. This is an old salvaged door from an old house we remodeled. I had tons of these doors but Darrell got in a throwing away mood 1 day, and well, needless to say, the doors went. I hate when he does this. Some of this stuff is good junk. And now he has a project in his head and no doors. It involved using these as the bottom walls for a little greenhouse. I told him he should keep them. Anyway this door already had this patina to the door. The other side is crackled paint but unfortunately the previous owners had used a lot of enamel paint on the door, and well, enameled paint just don't crackle so good. What we did here was take a soft brush and just brush off any loose or excess paint or dirt, wipe it down real good and then use a clear finish over the door, not polyurethane as it tends to yellow over time. Find something water based and I always choose a not so shiny finish but at least something easy to wash off like maybe a satin. We cleared this to keep the color and finish there. Next was the hanging, this door turned headboard MUST, I REPEAT MUST GO INTO THE STUDS in the wall. We used a stud finder for this. Basically we measured the center between the windows, found the center of the door, held it above the bed where I wanted it to go (this did take 3 people as these are quite heavy, 2 people to hold the door and 1 to do the drill) and then with some long screws we screwed the door into the studs around where the raised panel trim is so the screws are hidden that way, and Voila, a new headboard. I have also seen these hung up straight just like if it was an actual door, screwed into the wall and used for twin size headboards. And if you don't have an old door, go buy a new wood door and finish yourself. You could paint solid, distress with stain, use some of the neat crackles finished paints, the possibilities are endless.

Teresa

Need an Old Trash Can

2009-10-02T07:46:00.004-04:00

My love for things old runs through and through. I had seen another decorating blog and she had a "true" old galvanized small trash can for a diaper pail. Me, I had the ordinary run-of-the-mill plastic thing from Wal-Mart, which I hated. I so wanted an old can for Aidan's diaper pail. I searched Ebay frantically. No luck. I immediately asked Darrell if you could rust these new galvanized cans. He said "sure." Did I hear him right? I was on a mission. I picked this new little can up at Tractor Supply I think for around 13 dollars. I am ashamed to say it has been sitting in my office for months now, but remember, I am a busy mom. This week I decided it was time to get busy with this thing.

The first step is to get yourself some muriatic acid. You can buy this at a hardware store, and it really does not take much. This stuff is pretty wicked stuff so be real careful with it, read all the directions and do this outside with no kids around, or just let your husband do it and hope he does not melt his fingers or toes off, which does burn if you get it on your toe, ask Darrel. Note to self, "wear shoes." No, I am serious, this stuff is bad stuff so be very, very careful and please read all the directions. He just sprayed it on and let it set a bit. This takes all the shiny coating off the can. After that we rinsed with a water hose, again outside. The next step is the vinegar and salt. I read that some people leave the vinegar on for a couple hours and then add the salt, but me, I am impatient so I just added the vinegar and loaded the salt down. The salt gives it that whitish coating that galvanized metal gets after years and years, and I do mean years of outside wear. The next step after putting all this gunk on is to just wait. I let mine set outside all day and then overnight. The next day while the sun was out a bit, and the can was dry, I sprayed it with a clear finish to protect my masterpiece I had created. I had noticed without spraying it with a clear protectant that the finish does tend to come off. The rust is still there, just not as heavy, and I wanted it to be heavy. Does it make sense that I want it to be old and not new. My mind is crazy about this stuff, all I tend to think about. Next on my list is getting rid of that new looking antique dining room table and replacing it with something time tested and falling apart, kind of like the table the can is sitting on, but that is another post.

And here you go, this morning Aidan gets a new diaper pail, all rusty, grubby and old, and maybe I will give the other diaper pail to Darrell and Gage for their diapers, LOL. Oh wait, I think that is a bottle they need.

Teresa

I am real careful with all my old stuff. No loose paint or rust here. I always get this stuff off and cover with a protectant, I do know this stuff can be dangerous. I just wanted to add this before I get bombarded with comments about how dangerous these things can be, and believe me when I tell you I have already gotten rid of lots of stuff way before Aidan was born. I do put his safety 1st.

Hot Maple Toddy

2009-10-01T15:20:00.002-04:00

Fall is definitely here and I love this time of year. I think of my best friend who died 3 years ago from breast cancer at the young age of 31. This was also her favorite time of the year, and we both had birthdays in October, actually mine on Halloween. Gotta love this time of the year. I love the crispness in the air, using no air conditioning and opening the windows, and my new screen door. I just love screen doors. Every year around this time I try to get 1 of these Candleberry Candles. I love their candles. But the Hot Maple Toddy, absolutely the best. It smells the entire house up in no time flat. It has an aroma of fall and the holidays to come. I did notice yesterday on their website that pink sugar was a popular scent so I will have to check it out too. Head on over to Candleberry Candles and get you a candle, or check your local shops for them.

Teresa

Oh My, Are We Ready For This

2009-09-29T08:58:00.004-04:00

Look who followed me everywhere this morning. He desperately wanted outside but it was just too cold. I did leave the main door open and the screen door there for him to look out. He would back that walker up, turn red in the face and grunt, lean forward and try his best to get out that door. Oh my, can we handle this.

Look who is coming back from the utility room. I did have to turn him around once he got in there so he could get back out. Actually, he did not want back out.

Look at me go Mom.

I have always wanted to see what was in here so I thought I would follow you.

This morning Aidan has really been moving that walker forward all through the house. He has pulled things off the tables so far, reach for things in the floor. Boy are we going to have to do some baby proofing around here, and fast.

Teresa

Spontaneous Combustion and Migraines

2009-09-28T11:42:00.003-04:00

To my wonderful, work-filled weekend, lovely fall weather and all, an all-day-rainy Saturday that soaked the ground and my feet while I trampled through a field filled with primitives and antiques, I added a migraine to the mix. Yes, a true, full-fledged migraine. I hate these things. I can feel them coming on, I just know when I am getting 1 and it makes it all the worse, anticipating its arrival. I do not try to stay away from triggers, but I should. But who can give up chocolate and Diet Pepsi. Not Me. Lucky for me I usually only gets these beasts around that also wonderful time of the month. It is not like I am suffering enough that I have to add 1 of these into the mix. Geesh. Well lucky for me, there is this little drug called Imitrex. I love it. This little pill is a wonder. I don't think I could live without it. It does give you a funny feeling while doing its jobs at opening up those blood vessels in your neck, making your arms and legs heavy and weak, making you think you are going to die. To all this I say, it is worth it to get rid of this beast of a headache.

And did you know, linseed oil is combustible. Well, I kind of figured that, but not as combustible as it is. It will spontaneously combust. Yep, catch fire all by itself, and we found this out the almost hard way. Darrell had been finishing a little table for me for the dining room. This morning he picked up a can of linseed oil at the local hardware for me. Just last night he was telling me about its spontaneous combustibility powers, and I thought, yeah, yeah, went on changing the baby's diaper, drinking my Diet Pepsi and doing algebra with Gage. Fast forward to this morning, he puts a coat on the table and leaves the house. Me in here just working away, he comes back just a few hours later, and I do mean few, and is holding that yellow rag he had with smoke rolling from it. Yep, spontaneous combustion in our garage in just a few hours. He just happened to come through the garage where he left this rag laying on his work bench, beside of hand cleaner, paint, propane torch, all the stuff needed for a good mess. He could not believe it happened this fast but it did. Lucky for us, we found it before we did not have our table or even our house. Word to the wise, linseed oil will spontaneous combust. Don't leave these rags in your house, put them in water, get rid of them.

Teresa

Baby Dances To Beyonce's Single Ladies

2009-09-24T09:43:00.003-04:00

This is not my baby, but they should be very proud. I love, love, love this video. I think I just about peed my pants laughing at it. Check it out!

Teresa

Baby's Got a Brand New Coat

2009-09-23T08:52:00.007-04:00

See those 2 little teeth in there. The 2 little vampire teeth are through and on the top, and it looks as though the 2 big front teeth are going to break through any day now. Wow. Give this kid a steak.

I had been searching for Aidan a new winter coat, and Voila! Perfect. I got this at Mini Boden for around 35 dollars, and I got free shipping with a coupon I found online. Always search for coupons online before ordering. Sometimes you can come across codes for so much percentage off or free shipping, and it is worth the time and effort. I love this coat, and it is adorable on him. The sleeves are a little long right now, and Darrell says since when we stand him up in this coat and he shakes his arm, that it reminds him of the brother on the movie The Christmas Story all decked out in his snowsuit. Love that movie. Too funny! By the way I love Baby Boden stuff but it is a tad bit expensive, but if you check it out, the stuff is selling on EBay for near close to what it costs new, so you could always resell it.

Most of my shopping for Aidan has been done online. It is just easier with a baby these days. Scored some wonderful deals at Macy's with clearance stuff for next summer, and got some great deals on EBay from a wonderful lady who sells a lot of Gymboree clothing, and offers free shipping. Great deal! All of this at the luxury of my fingertips. I love the Internet. What did we do without it? Have you ever asked yourself that. I pay bills, bank, buy, surf and whatever else my little heart desires. Shopping is my big thing. Did I say I like to shop? Well I do but usually not for myself, usually my kids, Darrell or even the house. I used to be a big time house stuff buyer. The Burke Boy's Mommy does love to decorate and change things up constantly in this house but lately, well lately, I just don't have the time or even the energy.

With working, helping with homework (Did I mention Gage has 3 hours of algebra this year, geesh), and taking care of Aidan, trying to keep household stuff done, it just ain't happening. Lucky for me Darrell is a big help. This week I will start a 12-day stretch of working with no days off, well I do have a doctor's appointment on Friday of this week, but I don't even consider that a day off, going to the doctor, that is like work. I tell you this is killer and I end up so behind on stuff that I literally don't know where to start. But hey, I still know I am blessed.

I came across this link today on Kelly' Korner. Please visit them and pray for them, www.bandssullivan.blogspot.com. People, I am just too lazy to link. I can't help it. She was pregnant and diagnosed with breast cancer, doing good, had the baby and then 2 days later after going home started having seizures. She was determined to be brain dead and passed away. Also, this girl who worked at my family doctor's office, Michelle Stroud, was missing, found stuffed in a refrigerator in a deserted location, and now her soon-to-be ex-husband has been charged with her murder. She leaves behind an 8-year-old little boy whom she had just dropped off at school when her car was found about a mile from the school. Why do people kill people they loved, why do they kill the mother of their child? This is beyond me. This is a tragedy and disturbs everyone in the community since this is not something we see much of. We have had murders, and they are rare, but seems like when we have them, they are pretty gruesome.

Pray for both of these families.

Teresa

Schools Out, Schools Out, Teachers Let The Monkeys Out

2009-09-22T11:20:00.007-04:00

Overhead projector, transparencies and film projector along with film strips

Filing cabinet filled to the brim, refrigerator, pencil sharpener

student desk chairs

cubbies, dry erase boards, bulletin boards

teacher's desk and more charts

bookcase, globe, world map

lots and lots of educational supplies, and I do mean lots.

This is by no means our homeschooling room. I just don't go there. I am okay with all of you who do, but I tend to go for the public school thing.

Anyway, I really don't blog much about Gage as he asks me not too. Every time I take a picture or say something about the blog, he tells me every time to not blog about it or him. He is at that age, and I feel if they ask you not to blog about them, then you should not. It is not that I don't love him or love Aidan more, Aidan just can't say now right now. But this, oh he was fine with this. This is his pride and joy. You see, my son who is going to soon be 13, going to have to get a job to support his habits of buying teacher resource materials and to buy all the shoes he is outgrowing and the clothes too, wants to become a teacher. He has dreamed of this since a very small age, and has been collecting this stuff for years. This my friends is Gage's teacher room above our garage. This is a nice room, long and narrow but has a nice window in the end, good lighting, privacy and hardwood floor, and he has it filled to the brim, very neatly I might add, with his teaching room. He spends hours tucked away in this room, grading papers, making worksheets, using all the ink in our printer cartridges, hint, hint, and doing things teachers normally do.

The filing cabinet is stuffed with Mailbox Magazines, magazines that teachers subscribe too, and yes he has a subscription. This company publishes ideas submitted by teachers, and he has had a few published, that is until they found out he was only 12 at the time and kindly sent us a note they would not be accepting any more of his ideas. I say boycott them, but he does love this magazine, and actually reads it. There are numerous teacher resource books and materials in this room. They fill every nook and cranny. The overhead projector and cart, a Christmas gift. The white board, a wonderful DIY project by my hubby as well as the white bookcase. He is handy like that. The local teacher stores know Gage when he comes in. They think it is just cool that he likes this stuff. Of course, he is spending all his money there, and well on Ebay. Did I tell ya he was very fluent on Ebay. Yep, does his own bidding, paying and emailing, of course upon my approval. Last week he got a Macmillan Box thingy, who knows what it was, and well he had no money, so that thing cost him, washing both cars inside and out and lots of little chores. This week, another Macmillan Box thingy, and well he had money for that that he forgot about in his closet. Go figure. Who forgets about money? Wait he is just 12.

I know, I know, my husband thinks it is crazy. But you see, the way I look at it is if it was not this kind of stuff, which is very helpful and educational, it would be video games or gasp, even girls. He is just too young for the latter I think. You know, I am his mother. I don't even want to think about this stuff.

Needless to say, this is a room I once had plans for, a nice little bedroom, a workout room, something I felt was useful. Well it is very useful, housing Gage's stuff, and believe me he has plenty of it.

By the way, if you have any FREE, I cannot stress FREE enough, teacher materials you would like to get rid of, I am sure Gage would be glad to take them off your hands. The teachers take advantage of us at the end of the year like this, and I get all their junk.

Teresa

Seven Months

2009-09-21T15:19:00.000-04:00

Can you Believe this little guy is 7 months today? I just can't. Where has time gone? Aidan is a big little guy these days. His new jammies from Wal-Mart were size 18 months, but most of his regular clothing is 9 to 12 months. I have bought most of his winter stuff in 12 to 18 months and his little coat from Mini Boden 24 months. He is moving on up. He can still wear a little 2 in a shoe but little snug now and hard to get on. He is in size 4 diapers with still plenty of room. He loves to eat and wants to eat whatever or whenever we eat. He has 2 bottom teeth, 2 little eye teeth now and his gums for his main front teeth are really swollen. He used to sleep through the night, but not anymore. What is the deal with that? He loves his mamma and wants to be with me all the times. He can go backward in his walker and maybe a tad bit forward, but not much. He loves our little Bailee dog, but her not so much lovin him. His eyes are a brown color with a blue ring around them, very pretty eyes, and big. Aidan still does not have much hair but it will come in time. He is wanting to crawl so bad he cannot stand it. He likes to pound his toys on the hardwood floor and push his little truck. Yesterday several times he made it to the crawling position, once or twice to actually try to move forward but then decide to sit back up. I know it is coming, and we will be in trouble then. We all love this little guy. He has changed our life forever!

What if God Were One Of Us

2009-09-21T07:51:00.003-04:00

You know the song, kind of makes you think. What if God was one of us? What if God was the one you did not help today? What if God was the one you walked by without offering a simple glance or a smile, or even a kind word? We all do it. We think we just simply don't have the time. We are too rushed. I have. I am ashamed to admit that. One day in particular a little lady was having trouble finding the deodorant she needed amongst the entire huge shelf to pick from. I saw her struggling, walked past 1st and then something told me, would Jesus do that. Nope, I said to my little ole self, and went back and helped her. Yes I was in a hurry, and yes I was not in the mood for any small talk, but I did it.

Yesterday morning we made it to church and actually early thanks to Aidan getting me up at 4 a.m. Yep, and last night 3:26. I still love him, and even more. I don't think he could possibly get any cuter. I blamed his little early morning fiasco on the monster pajamas I put on him last night. The monsters made him do it.

The message at Sunday service was great, well what I actually heard between Aidan pulling my shirt down in the front or off my arm, or looking at the lady behind me and screaming and smiling, and constantly saying "mum, mum, mum." By the way, we worked on the shhhh thing yesterday. He definitely paid attention and I quite possibly think he might have gotten it. On to the message, Our pastor talked about falling down. How when you actually literally fall and someone sees you, you have a pride thing kick in and say, "Oh, I didn't fall." Same thing with your Christianity. If you fall, don't be ashamed. Don't be afraid. Just pick up your cross and keeping on going. Ask for forgiveness. God is always there and always with us.

We had a baptism yesterday morning of a young man from Ohio. He had rededicated his life and wanted to be baptized again. I knew something was up when he came to the front of the church for fellowship. His clothes were probably 3 to 4 sizes too big for him, and I could just see the look in his eyes. Something was up. Come to find out he was homeless. Came in here with his girlfriend and she left and took what little he had. My heart was broken for him. We take so much for granted in life. Needless to say the church helped him, we helped him and many other members helped him until his mother can get a way in here on Wednesday to pick him up. You have to be helpful to people in their time of need. I never made it back to Sunday night worship but my mom said he was so proud, so grateful and so thankful. He said he had a new family here and he was going to live with his grandfather who loved him dearly but he felt as though we all loved him. Showing Christ like love is what came to my mind. I pray this young man finds a good church in Ohio, stays on the straight and narrow, always looking to God for guidance, picking his feet back up when he falls, and always remembers the church in Kentucky that helped him.

In our area we don't witness a lot of homelessness. It is a rural area and most people have family they are living with and relatives if they do not have a home. We don't see people on the street with signs or under bridges or overpasses, but I do know this exists. It literally breaks my heart. I know I cannot help everyone in this world. I don't have the money or even the energy for this, but I just pray that someone reaches out to these people, gives them hope, gives them something to remember when times get hard, keeping in mind what if God were one of us.

This young man will remember his time here. He will remember how he was helped. He was shown God's love and can take that with him in his life.

Teresa

Who Does Kanye Think He Is?

2009-09-17T11:29:00.006-04:00

I try to stay out of this celebrity hoopla cause there certainly is a whole lot of it out there. But, this certainly caught my eye when it was on the news and the Internet. Who does Kanye West think he is? Who is he to take this moment from Taylor Swift? The more I thought about this today the angrier I got. What if the tables had been turned? What if Taylor had done this to Beyonce or Kanye? Would she be racist? That card would probably be played. I am not a racist so don't think that when I post this. The fact of the matter is that Kanye has a tendency to do things like this. He tried to put the blame on many things but fact of the matter is, we all know what he is, and I am not going to say that particular word here. The fact that he did not apologize to her until 2 days after the fact when she revealed on The View that he had not apologized. I mean, I think that is a little late. I do remember seeing pictures of him arriving with his lady friend to the awards and he was toting a bottle of whiskey. How appropriate. Maybe he should blame it on the whiskey and they can do a country song for Taylor with those lyrics. Sounds good to me. But wait, there probably already is a country song with those lyrics. My point is, what kind of example do you set with showing up with a bottle of whiskey in your hand. Kids look up to these people. Not I, since I know better, but kids, yeah they do. Kanye is certainly not a role model. Anyway, Taylor was broken. You could see it in her eyes. I say everyone ban him. We don't particularly like his music, whatever it might be called, hip hop, rap, whatever it is, I am not quite sure, and Beyonce, we don't care for her either. She needs to get a new style. Her songs tend to say the same lines over and over and over again.

On another note, do you think that perhaps if Mr. Kanye had done this to the President of the United States, they would have reprimanded him like they are a certain person who called out Mr. Obama and called him a liar? Just asking? I mean I know Mr. Obama is the President of the United States, and it was probably uncalled for since there are better ways to handle things, but. At least Mr. Obama did have the nerve to call Kanye what I also think he is, and by the way, that got tweeted. Bet that guy lost his job. Do you think?

Well off my soapbox this morning. Seems like celebrities always have an excuse for things they do, blame it on their family, drugs, alcohol, childhood, blame it on their dog, which by the way Jessica Simpson (I do like her, just can't help it), if the coyotes got your dog, give it up. They do eat them especially little tiny ones. They blame it on all the wrong reasons except the real reason, themselves. They are so full of themselves. Next thing you know Kanye will be in rehab to get over this.

Wish I had had this blog when the whole Britney fiasco went down, but hey there is always Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton, or Jon and Kate, and the list goes on and on.

Teresa

This post was not meant to harm in anyway the people talked about here. This is just expressing my opinion of these people, and I do know that not many of you care and just say get over it and move on, and yeah we probably should

Hairy Chicken

2009-09-16T12:23:00.003-04:00

Unfortunately I do not have a picture of this chicken. The guy, well boy, who had it in a cage at the flea market kept looking at me strangely when I was going to take a picture of this chicken. Do you guys get this often? I mean it is just a picture. Do they think I am like a secret service agent or someone trying to spy on them? Do they have something to hide? Are they an illegal alien? Who knows. Alas, I have not become brazen enough to take pictures for my blog of a lot of things. I keep thinking people will think I am crazy. Why should I care? I don't really know that answer either. Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

We went to the flea market to the area where all the good junk is, not the new kitschy stuff from China. I hate flea markets with that kind of stuff. I like the old junk. Also in this section is where they trade animals. Lots and lots of animals in cages. Everything from dogs, chickens, rabbits, cats, guineas, everything you can thing of. I have never seen snakes, and thank goodness for that.

Meanwhile we come upon a young boy, probably 13 or 14, and he has chickens. Hairy chickens. I mean I have never ever seen chickens like this. Their hair is all fuzzed up and messy like they just climbed out of the bed, or like my hair when I let it dry on its own, LOL. I so wanted a picture of this hairy chicken, tried several times and kept getting that evil eye. Who knows?

But the moral of the story is, chickens are not hairy. Did you know that? Well, I did but the entire time I was gasping at this chicken, I was saying look at its hair and proclaiming what a hairy little chicken. I even asked if Darrell had ever seen such a hairy chicken. His reply was this, while laughing uncontrollably at me, "Honey, chickens do not have hair. They have feathers."

Oh the things we say out in the country. And believe me when I tell you this is not the 1st time I have been laughed at, and for my accent too. Me, I am just happy and blessed.

Teresa

Mum, Mum, Mum

2009-09-14T08:21:00.005-04:00

I snapped these early this morning. Aidan is so wanting to crawl these days. He seems to push everything off his blanket on the floor and try to get it. I sometimes wish we had carpet, it would make things easier with a baby until you had a mess. It is hard for him to try to even crawl on a blanket since it pushes out from under him, but I know he will get it. Yesterday just all out of the blue he decided it was mum, mum, mum all day long. No matter what we were doing, mum, mum, mum and then look at me and grin. Do you think he knows I am his mum? This was just wonderful. Made me want to just eat him up.

Since we did not make it to church yesterday Gage wanted to go to the flea market, so we obliged. All the way through the flea market Aidan was saying mum, mum, mum. I LOVE IT! I scored some more white plates for the dining room project I have in my head, that is actually starting to take place in our garage now that we have room, and a new tomato slicer knife from Rada. Don't you just love their knives. I do, especially that tomato slicer one.

Saturday we had a little wiener roast and marshmallow roast here for the kids. We made S'mores and had the best hot dogs ever. They are so good on an open wire with wood, and the kids love it. What am I saying, the adults loved it to. My MIA sister was also there (she is probably reading this). Yea, she went off to college and Morehead State and now never comes home. I know, I know, her own life to lead, but pretty bad Jayda when Aidan is afraid of you, even just sitting next to you in his stroller. We told scary stories and I swear I almost peed myself from laughing so hard at those kids, and Emily, our trusty lab who always keeps my porch a mess, she was scared too. No, I am serious. She is a big chicken. I did not get any pictures as I figured most would be too dark anyway. But believe me, we had a good time, and the night air was perfect for a fire outside.

Saturday day we worked on the garage for a while, Aidan napped for 3 hours and then sat in his stroller and watched us work. Can somebody tell this kid to help? We made a lot of progress but so much more needed. Where did all this junk come from? LOL. The trash man is going to love us.

The mornings are getting cooler here and the days feel great. I think Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love all the colors and just the way the air feels. We finally got the screen door hung. I have only been waiting for a while now, but I will post about this later. For now, work is waiting for me

Teresa

Blog Sale

2009-09-13T21:25:00.003-04:00

Okay, okay, I know I said I would post a blog sale, but the weekend has been crazy. Aidan is working on getting his eye teeth in and kind of clingy. He would not even let my mom hold him today. He had a meltdown and we did not make it to church, just not enough time. With these 2 teeth, that will make him 4, 2 on the bottom and then his little vampire teeth. Guess he could be a vampire for Halloween.

I did get a few pics taken of some things but we did decide to take many things to the auction for them to auction off as I just do not have the time for another project right now. Between working, blogging, housework, being a mommy and a wife, I am pulled in every direction right now, so I will again have to postpone this sale.

Teresa

Economy At Hand

2009-09-10T10:12:00.003-04:00

Every time you turn on the news there is some company laying people off, downsizing or just simply closing up shop. Times are tough, and the American People are in for a long haul I feel on this. I spoke before about a couple near us losing their home, another popular blog talking about her financial problems, and so many more out there. This morning in particular while I fed Aidan his bottle, the news was talking about Owens Corning, a popular company I know many of you have heard of, had laid off 80 employees in this area. I know 80 does not sound like much, but in such a small, rural area, this can be devastating to many people, not just the workers and their family. This inadvertently affects everyone around. The reason for the lay off, oversea outsourcing to India. What? How can they make the products over there and still be making money sending them back here. Well, let me tell you further. These 80 people were the paperwork people, the pencil pushers, I guess so to speak. I am not meaning that bad, don't get me wrong. What I am furious about is sending these jobs overseas. This is just crazy. The government should completely BAN this. Taking jobs from American People to give to overseas people, just crazy. No wonder business is booming overseas. I have heard the old adage that Americans do not want to work. This is just a stereotype as many are working, well until they lost their jobs to India. I do have a big problem with this people. How can we ever expect to pick up from a bad economy situation if jobs are continued to be outsourced overseas. I don't have an answer as I don't hold a degree in political science, but just plain and simple, keep our jobs in America. If Americans do not know how to do the jobs, offer them the same training as many of these companies are giving to India. Give them a chance. Keep our work here!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-09T08:56:00.000-04:00

I Am Too Sleepy For This

2009-09-08T09:04:00.003-04:00

Aidan looks a little sleepy for this. In fact, the other picture I took shows Aidan yawning. But nevertheless, here are my 2 boys, Gage's first day of 7th grade in his Ron Jon Surf Shop Shirt.

Head on over here http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/2009/09/week-35-back-to-school-photo-challenge.html to check out all the other pics.

Teresa

Choose Before Enlistment

2009-09-07T17:13:00.005-04:00

I have tried and tried to find out about this sign. A guy gave it to me so probably not worth much, but hey, you never know. It is a metal sign about 3 feet by 2 feet. It has been an Army recruitment sign. The paint is faded and it does have a lot of wear, but I love it. I would love this in 1 of my guy's bedrooms. I am eyeballing a place in my upstairs beside the new vintage ticking fabric I picked up at an estate sale for my iron baby crib turned daybed. Pics to come soon as soon as I get slipcovers for the other chair.

Teresa

UPDATE: I had already done this post, not knowing what the blog hop was for today. Kind of appropriate, huh? Anyway, this sign shows a proudness for the Army for me. 911 was a day I don't think any of us will forget. I was at work. We all watched from a television in a lounge for the doctors at the hospital. We watched in horror, in sadness and in disbelief. I cannot imaging witnessing first hand this tragic event. America was changed forever.

Just Junk!

2009-09-07T17:04:00.002-04:00

And More Junk,

2009-09-07T17:02:00.006-04:00

My estate sale went pretty good. Parted with many things I have loved for a while, many things I just never used but got at a pretty good price, and then just some stuff I needed to clear out to make room for more junk. My buildings are still full to the brim so probably will do this again soon!

And More Junk!

2009-09-07T17:02:00.005-04:00

New Again!

2009-09-07T11:37:00.002-04:00

I came across this song on a blog that follows me, thank you so much Kentucky Sunflowers Up a Holler. I love this song. I love the music of Brad Paisley and Sara Evans, but that is not what does it for me. The words of this song. I had not watched the video until just now.

I had a post to do about Labor Day, why I am working if this is a holiday to honor American workers, and all that nonsense, but I feel this is so much more. More meaning and more of a priority. I am thankful and I am grateful. I am very BLESSED!

Teresa

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You

2009-09-03T10:12:00.002-04:00

The Burke's are expanding, and no we are not having another baby. Trust me when I tell you that. We are expanding our little business ventures. Not another house flip or rental. Hopefully those are gone for a while. I have always wanted to be in the antique business, and well I am hoping in the next little bit for that to happen, and adding a new blog with DIY stuff and lots of my treasures and finds I come across. Most days I feel like my head is going to explode with ideas so sStay tuned for all the excitement.

Teresa

A Day in the Life of the Burke's

2009-09-03T08:17:00.003-04:00

Nope, we are not the Duggars. I am not sure how they do it with all those kids and another on the way. We are lucky to manage 2. Darrell commented yesterday sometimes he has to remember if he dropped Aidan off at my mom's house in the morning. Two kids are hard, especially when you have to do everything for 1 of them, and most everything still for the 12-year-old. This morning. I don't have deodorant. Me, I say, I told you where it was. Okay, (stands there waiting for me to get it). Geesh Louise. Do I have to do everything around here? Darrell is a big help and I am grateful for that. I know many times I forget this and take this for granted, but he does help. So I thank him. Again, I seriously do not know how the Duggaars do it all. I secretly in the back of my mind look to turn on the news 1 day and they are divorcing, 1 of their children has committed murder or in drug rehab. I don't wish this on them, but I just keep thinking this picture may not be what it seems. How could it? Look at the Gosselins, Jon and Kate. Nuff said.

Anyway, yesterday Aidan was due for vaccinations. Hate these, and boy did he ever cry yesterday. They kept coming back in to check on him, and when he would see the nurse, he would cry even harder. He even cried with her listening to his little chest and all the weighing and measuring. Can anybody say my baby has stranger anxiety. This would be to say the least. As you can imaging, he had grown quite a bit. They actually measured his head twice to make sure they measured it right. It had grown 3 inches in 3 months. Yes, he has a fat head. We have known that all along. His brother has a fat head and so does his dad. I live in a house with a bunch of fat heads. LOL. This little head thing was 1 of the things that made me decided to go with a repeat c-section if you know what I mean. Back to the subject at hand. Aidan now weighs 21 pounds and 9 ounces and is 27 1/4 inches long. Well actually 27 and 3/8 inches long according to what Darrell told the nurse yesterday when he helped her measure Aidan. She said, go figure a man would measure that way. She said they were not that precise. Now me, I would have to say 27 and so many little marks. He is wearing size 4 diapers, sitting up great, I look for him to start crawling soon, he says ma ma (at least it sounds like it), he is trying to hold his bottle, still sleeping with me, eating like a little pig, and still loving his paci.

We were super busy yesterday getting things priced for my huge living estate sale on Saturday. I am hoping I don't start deciding to keep things as they are coming out of buildings and garages. I have already decided on some things. And then there is this little estate sale tomorrow, and I have already previewed some of the stuff, and I am sending Darrell down 1st thing in the morning to get what I want. I told you I am definitely a hoarder of junk. Well, good junk that is.

Back to Aidan, yesterday just wore him out, messed up his entire schedule of napping and eating. The eating still took place but the napping, not so much. He literally fell over last night, but was up again from 4:15 until 6 again. Can somebody tell this baby to go back to sleeping. Gotta love him. I so wish yesterday I had my video recorder out. Gage literally had Aidan doing a belly laugh. I just love it. Listening to my 2 babies interacting like that. It is wonderful.

Well, back to the grind today after being off yesterday for appointments, and I have to stay motivated today. Just gotta.

Teresa

Fall Is Just Around the Corner

2009-08-31T11:09:00.006-04:00

I love fall weather. You wake up and the air is cool but the days are great, 70 degree weather. Love it. I wish we had it all the time. You can open the windows and not use the air conditioner. The air just feels crisp and clean. Not to mention all the pumpkins and leaves. I love the mix of colors, the way the hills look and the fall decor.

Around here lately I can feel fall creeping in on us. The mornings are cooler as are the evenings. Night begins to set in earlier. Oh, I just can't wait to decorate for fall. We usually do the entire house including the porch, and then when Halloween comes along, we decorate the entire house for that. I buy pumpkin seed every year and never get them planted in time. I had big plans this year for pumpkins, porches and pictures. Oh well, guess I will buy a few instead.

Gage's birthday is in October and mine is actually on Halloween, so why not love the month of October. A few years ago we had a huge Halloween party for him, complete with a haunted trail and all the works. The kids loved it. I wish I had pictures of this but I was so busy I did not get any, only a few my mom took of some of the kids in costume. No pictures of the way the house looked and none of us all dressed up. I was a zombie bride complete with vintage wedding dress turned into bloody wedding dress. This year Gage is begging for the same. Do I give in? I feel it calling my name; however, there is a lot of work involved in such a feat. Am I up to it? Probably. Can I do it with the baby? Not sure about that yet.

This year I am thinking another haunted trail, caramel apples, a huge bonfire and perhaps a chainsaw.

I did purchase Martha's Stewart's Halloween magazine yesterday and found the cutest little costume for Aidan. He is going to be an owl. And yes, we usually all dress up as a family. I am trying to get Darrell to be a beekeeper. It was also in the magazine. We always do our costumes as they turn out much better than anything store bought. Two years in a row Gage was a Zombie, and last year a scary scarecrow. Many years before that he was a vampire, even at the age of 3, a miniature 1. One year we were an entire family of vampires, and many people took our picture.

I was just a pregnant lady at that time with our Little Man. This is us trick-or-treating last year.

The only thing bad about fall is what is to come after that, winter, but wait there is Christmas, and that is an entirely new post. We go all out for that too.

<>Teresa

Who Needs Roosters

2009-08-29T05:46:00.009-04:00

Wow, this is beginning to be a habit around here. Aidan up again at 4:24 this morning. Can someone tell him this is too early to be up and at it for the day. This baby has always been a good night sleeper just not so much during the day unless you hold him. I try very hard not to do this and actually lay him down, and whether he sleeps 10 minutes or 2 hours is okay with me so long as he sleeps at night. Granted we don't usually get much accomplished during the day but at least pretty much feel rested. I can remember saying a couple weeks ago I have not really been lacking that much sleep with Aidan since he sleeps good at night. At this age Gage was still getting up and I was pretty exhausted, but Gage would nap during the day, and my life was less hectic, only had 1 baby, smaller house and less of everything, and I napped with him to get caught up. I could not tell you the last time I napped with Aidan. I always have so much to do, and I think eventually our bodies get used to lack of sleep. Do you think? Can you actually get used to not getting any sleep? I think as women we are conditioned that way. Darrell can miss a few hours of sleep and be like, "man I am going to bed early early tonight." "I did not get any good sleep." And voila, he goes to bed, no quesetions asked. Me, still up until the kids are asleep.

I know many of you stay up late at night to get caught up on housework and stuff like that, but with school going on, I do have to get up at 6 every morning so it is not like I lay and sleep in all the time. Never have been that kind of person. And every day I tell myself I am going to stay up until about 1 and get a bunch of stuff accomplished, still not happening.

One thing about it, getting up this early does tend to get you motivated, at least after a Diet Pepsi or 2. That is like coffee to me, and I must have it!

So far today we have changed a poopie diaper. By the way, who poops at 4:30 a.m.? And, we have folded a load of laundry, made bottles for the day, put more laundry in the washer, checked my email, started to work my job, brushed my teeth (maybe that should have been at the top of the list), scanned blogs I like to read for new posts, written this post, found out D.J. AM is dead (whole different topic and post here), wrote this post, got Aidan back to sleep at 5:30 a.m. and put him in the bed with his daddy (and yes, we do co-sleep), and found out that Shark has a new vacuum cleaner out they compare to the Dyson. I don't quite possibly see how, but they say so, and I did watch the infomercial and it all looked good to me. Maybe I will order this. Do you guys watch this stuff? Seems like that is all that is on in the wee hours of the morning before the sun rises. They can be real convincing. Matter of fact, a well-known meat company came to my mom's house the other day, and I was NOT going to buy anything from him. I was going to stand my ground. I am too tight with money for this stuff. Man, he was a cross between Tony Little and Billy Mays, looked more like Tony Little, no pony tail though and no muscles, but his face, but sounded like Billy Mays. You know I did not walk out of there with a box of chicken and a box of steak. I mean, come on, who buys that much meat. LOL!

The picture at the top is what 4:30 in the morning looks like at my house. After I fed him, I put him in there to make bottles and at least go to the bathroom.

Teresa

Sausage, do you like sausage?

2009-08-28T10:07:00.003-04:00

Or maybe even pork chops, or bacon. Wow the list is endless. Gage has been begging for a miniature pot belly pig. I keep saying no and Darrell keeps saying lets get 1. However, we just were able to find new homes for all of our shih tzus we were breeding, only keeping 1 as a pet and then 1 lab outside. Finally, all the cats have homes too. We have no fish, no hamsters and nothing else to take care of. Why would I even consider this for him. He constantly asks for these animals and then we end up taking care of them and once the newness wears off, he is done with them.

Alas though I am about to give him. They are pretty cute. People say very easy to train, and I guess if if does not work out, we could always fatten it up and have it slaughtered. Now, don't go calling the animal right's people on me or PETA. We do eat meat in this family.

Teresa

UPDATE****
I THINK I WAS HAVING A WEAK MOMENT WHEN I POSTED THIS, I THINK I WILL STICK TO MY GUNS ON THIS 1, NO PIGS FOR US AT LEAST NOT UNTIL PIGS FLY.

Ketchup Anyone!

2009-08-25T20:43:00.008-04:00

Ketchup anyone. Well not that kind of ketchup, but catch up, or maybe catsup for some of you folks. Not me! I hate catsup, pronounced by me Cat SUP, yes 2 words. I can tell the difference, and as far as I am concerned, if it is not Heinz, I don't like it. And no, Heinz did not pay me to say that. Believe me when I tell you they have no clue who I am. But wait, don't we share the same 1st name.

Anyway, here we go catching up. We are still super busy but this weekend we took Saturday to do some things we like to do.

We went to the flea market, did not buy any fleas but did get some neat old junk to add to all the stuff I already have. Seriously, I think I need to be on that new show, Hourders.

Next, we went here and did some pictures. I love this house, always have, and always will. I wanted to buy it but way to expensive for our blood. This house is absolutely beautiful. I have more pictures of the architectural detail. I was not able to get a good front facing picture as I would have had to crossed the road and stood on the other side, and risked getting caught trespassing again. No thanks!

Gage and Aidan paid some bills. Oh way, they don't work. They just surfed the web, right.

And Aidan ate crackers, lots and lots of them. He loves crackers.

He even resorted to picking the crumbs up out of the swing. This little chunky monkey loves to eat. He is about 22 pounds now, outgrown his infant car seat and moving on up to a convertible seat. He eats about 2 jars of baby food at a time, has 2 teeth, eats about 5 crackers at a time, and loves yogurt bites. Gage loves chicken, Aidan not so much. We tried it the other day. He gagged and refused to take another bite. Little Miss Bailee our little black shih tzu loved it though. Guess cause it reminded her of soft dog food and smelled about the same.

We have still been working on house projects, finished a few with a post on these later. One involves an old door from a house we bought, and the other involves lots and lots of white plates, and an old crib. Been cleaning out some of my junk, getting ready to have a huge antique/living estate sale. Ad has been paid for and should be in the local paper. Can't wait. Still lots of pricing to do.

My Organized Chaos

2009-08-20T08:50:00.001-04:00

What a wonderful name for a blog. Do I think my chaos is organized. Well, in my eyes it is.

Anyway, my husband came across this blog the other night, and we love it. She is always giving things away. I have lost track of the things I have entered. I mean, who is not up for some free stuff, and some good free stuff. She also has reviews and discounts too.

Check it out.

Teresa

Ideas Anyone

2009-08-20T07:52:00.002-04:00

Lately I think I am blogged out, nothing to say, well actually plenty to say just not able to get it to come to words. Ideas anyone! I am thinking of a giveaway, thinking of doing picture posts, and then just thinking about nothing at all. Is that even possible. I think I am exhausted from working, taking care of Aidan, getting Gage to and from school, all the house stuff, and even trying to maintain some sort of life existence or at least get a shower. Wow! Lots to do here.

Teresa

Mexican Cornbread Anyone!

2009-08-17T16:24:00.004-04:00

This is my mother-in-law's recipe for Mexican/Western Cornbread. This is tried and true, and we love it, well Gage and I as Darrell does not like spicy food or anything with onions in it.

This is by far the best Mexican cornbread I have ate.

3 cups self rising flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cooking oil, she prefers Wesson
1-2/3 cup sweet milk
3 eggs
1 to 7 hot peppers diced fine, depending on how hot you want it. I usually use about 5.
1-1/2 cup cheddar cheese or longhorn cheese (shredded)
1 can cream style corn
1 onion diced.

Mix all this together. Bake 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes in a greased 9 x 13 pan.

My mother-in-law could probably make this blindfold, but me, I have to pull out my recipe every time.

I don't have any pics as we did not have this for supper this evening. Instead we had fried tilapia, corn, green beans and good ole' mac and cheese, a must for every meal at our house. Besides cereal, I think my family could live on mac and cheese.

Enjoy!
Teresa

NOT ME MONDAY AND THIS OLD HOUSE

2009-08-17T11:39:00.005-04:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

We certainly did not go to this old house yesterday especially since we do not own this old place. That would so be trespassing. We did not go here so I could take pictures of my cranky, teething and sleepy baby. I would never do such a thing like trespass or even subject my poor baby who does not feel like pictures to do such a thing. Not Me!. I would never put my husband in the weeds to hold my baby upon the banister so I could take his picture. Never. I would never keep taking pictures while my husband complained the bugs were biting him. Not me! I would never considering entering this house to look at all the junk. Not me! Really though, I did not go in. I am really afraid of getting arrested for trespassing every time I go here. But that is not to say that I have never been in it. And I have never contemplated ways to get this stuff to my house so all this junk could be mine, mine, mine (insert sinister laugh here). And, I surely do not wish this was my house instead of having a new house. Not me. I would never be ungrateful and wish I lived in this falling down old house. Not me. And I did not go over and over my pictures to see if maybe I captured something that we did not see while we were there. I surely do not believe in ghosts or just wish to encounter something strange. Not me!

And last, but certainly not least, completely off the old house subject, which I never get off the subject and do random posts. I did not take all the toilet paper from our hotel while in Myrtle Beach on vacation. I did not say I paid dearly for this stuff. I mean, come on, toilet paper, and cheap toilet paper at that. And I did not say to myself I was so glad I did not take that toilet paper the other day when our downstairs bathroom was empty and I had to use the toilet paper that I did not take. I always keep our bathroom stocked with toilet paper. And oh yeah, I did not just take down our Fourth of July bunting from our porch! This is the middle of August after all.

Teresa

Myrtle Beach, SC in pictures

2009-08-13T21:56:00.005-04:00

Wishin I was in 1 of these chairs.

Laying on this beach

swimming with this baby

and this handsome pre-teen boy

looking at this sky

and these chubby cheeks

wondering what he is thinking

and loving those eyes

waking this bridge over water and feeling the breeze

and going to bed looking at this.

I would have uploaded more pics, but I have so many I would be here forever. Blogger must have been experiencing problems. The last set did not even upload, and I tried twice.

Bedtime for me here.

Teresa

Love Affair

2009-08-12T09:37:00.003-04:00

Now everyone knows we all look, right, just so long as we don't touch, right? Okay, Okay, this is not about that kind of love affair. It does not involve another human being. Lately I am having a love affair with all-white decorating. I am trying to snatch up ideas galore online and buy cheap things that are white. Did you get that, cheap. Yes, I do like a bargain. My mind and computer work overtime looking for ideas and searching for white junk.

We are still trying to get this house painted. We still have a mess and things sitting everywhere, things to be donated and things to be sold at auction or yard sales or estate sales, living estate sales that is as we are not dead yet. Least I don't think so. Anyhoo, I begged to paint this entire house white when we built it and no can do said the hubby. He wanted color, and color we got. Until lately I was pretty content with this until marks starting showing on the walls from the kids and well, just plain ol' tired of the colors. I figure I will add my color back with accessories. I did agree lately to paint the family room a little neutral, and with the new leather sectional we had, the white stuff just did not go. Needless to say, a man has to have a room for his own, right. Had we had loads of money it would have been 1 awesome media room, theater chairs, surround sound, which he has, but a more expensive combo, and all the bells and whistles for him to watch television. I mean, how much stuff do you need to sit down and watch television. Total waste of time if you ask me. Oh well, off my soap box, and on to my love affair.

I have also developed a love affair for canvas drop clothes. The possibilities are endless. We have made curtains for the family room, bedding, and now I am thinking about tablecloths, shower curtains, pillows and you name, I plan on doing it.

As you can see, most of my love affairs are with decorating things, and I am contemplating starting another blog just on decorating because I love it, and used to spend a lot of time on this stuff but don't seem to have that time right now with the baby, and my job, which by the way, ahem, I am supposed to be doing right now. Let's keep that a secret, won't ya.

As for Darrell, he has found another woman. Yes, another woman I say, and like I said before, not another human being, not someone able to love him back, but yes, the GPS. You heard me, the GPS. He said he loves her, and well actually, I do too. We even named her MAD MYRTLE since Myrtle Beach was our 1st trip using her. I used to think GPS systems were for dummies, and who needed 1, well apparently we do. Guess we are dummies after all, something I had been thinking for a while now, just needed this reassurance. People spend the money on a GPS. Made our life and trip so much easier. Now if only MAD MYRTLE could come clean this house and do this laundry for me!

Teresa

Reflections of Summer

2009-08-11T18:47:00.006-04:00

Wow, school starts here tomorrow. I just cannot believe that summer break is over. Where did the time go? I guess working and taking care of a baby helps pass the time. You know what they say, time flies while having fun. Tomorrow my son will be in the 7th grade, 2 more years until high school and just only about 3 years shy of being able to drive. Scary, huh. I guess we are as ready as can be. New clothes and shoes bought (might I insert here that we bought size 12 shoes this year, 12 in mens mind you). Oh yeah, and a very neatly groomed fresh haircut. Love the fresh haircuts. Makes the head look smaller. I know, I know crazy. The only thing we don't have done is the supply list. We missed open house since I had to work, but the school said he would be fine tomorrow, just bring pencil and paper for the 1st day.

Today I have been reflecting on how blessed we are. I have went over and over in my mind things I wanted to say and I just have a hard time putting them to words. I am thankful for my job, my family, our home, our health, and so much more I cannot even begin to list. Sometimes we have to stop and take a break, look at the big picture. When you look at other people's lives, those who have sick children, those who are going through foreclosures and losing jobs, losing spouses, those who are sick themselves, those who have spouses who are sick or dying, those whose lives are in turmoil, those who struggle with infertility, those who lose babies that never made it to be born or died at birth or before, you realize how truly blessed you are. I cry for so many people when I read their blogs. I question how I got to be so blessed. What did I do to deserve this? Some days I just don't want to read the sad stories, but I do think that we need to, we need to realize what we have, and what could all be gone. The main thing that matters is we have the Lord on our side, we stand steadfast in him and our beliefs and continue to look for God as guidance. I struggle daily as many other people do. Not 1 of us is perfect. Not 1 of us is deserving. Not 1 of us should cast stones. We do not know what the future holds. I pray for safety, strength, guidance, health and financial help daily. Most of all I pray for forgiveness because I am just a sinner saved by grace, looking to the future, pushing my way through this world of sorrow and turmoil and struggling day to day with Satan on my coattails trying to drag me down.

Teresa

2009-08-10T12:50:00.004-04:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Okay, I have not went back and forth whether to post a NOT ME MONDAY post or to do a post wishing my wonderful husband and the father of my children, a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. I would never do that. I ALWAYS put my family first.

This past week we did not go on vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and I do not have so many pictures to share with ya'll. We did not do some wonderful things and have a wonderful time, and it did not end too soon, and I did not dread coming back to work today, and by the way I did not use all my vacation time again, leaving me with something like 0.125 days. I mean, come on, I am more responsible than that. What if 1 of my children gets sick?

While out in the ocean this week I did not think my husband was a big cry baby when he got stung by a jellyfish. I have more empathy than that. And, I did not think to myself when he got stung by said jellyfish, here goes our vacation and guess we have to go to the ER. I would never think thoughts like that. And the irony, my son did not also get stung by a jellyfish the same day. I mean, how in the world could that happen. By the way, did you know that peeing on a jellyfish sting helps take the pain away. We did not do this though. Really, we did not.

We did not eat at a Seafood bar restaurant, and I did not eat until I could puke since I felt it was way overpriced and not very good, and I did not tell other patrons coming into said restaurant, don't waste your money. And by the way, I did not say that our waiter looked like an elf, actually the 1 from the Santa Claus Movie, and I did not contemplate asking him if this was his summer job and Santa's helper in the winter months. I would never say such a thing to a person.

I did not feed my child his baby food in his car seat so we did not have to stop and we could get home faster. I mean really, I always put my children first, remember.

And last, but certainly not least, I did not go into the man's bathroom at the rest stop yesterday. It clearly did not have a sign above the door, and Darrell clearly would stop me from doing this, right. Uh, no, he did not stop me. Just felt like I would figure it all out soon enough. And by the way, I did not almost pee on myself laughing hysterically until crying when realizing what I did.

Happy Birthday Darrell!

I did not just put that at the end, did I?

Teresa

Was It Really That Bad?

2009-08-01T10:01:00.003-04:00

I have been delegating jobs to Gage lately. I figure he is 12 and he needs to do his share around here. After all, I feed and clothe him, right? No, just kidding. I feel like chores make him responsible and will make him a well-rounded adult. After all, they never hurt me. Plus, this give me more time to blog. LOL.

Anyway, this morning as I was changing Aidan's diaper, and no we do not use cloth diapers. I am honestly just too lazy. Might as well tell ya the truth. I do, however, put his disposable diapers in a diaper pail with a lid. Let me tell ya, when I took that lid off there this morning to add another to the massive heap already in there (I am not sure when I emptied it last, probably at least a week, hey we have been busy, remember), I thought the smell was going to knock me down. It was like a bomb going off in there. My nose hairs are still trying to recuperate. I immediately threw the diaper in and put the lid back on. You see, I would have normally immediately changed this myself but I am working again today, really not here blogging right now, and I needed to get started. I have so much to get done before we leave for Myrtle Beach.

When Gage got up this morning I told him I had some chores for him today. He said just give it to me now, rolled his eyes, and said so I can get started. I let him know he could eat 1st and actually might want to. He disagreed and rolled his eyes again so I gave him my list. Normally I like to write these things down since he does tend to get sidetracked and forget. Today was empty all the little trash cans from the bathrooms, vacuum the entire house (we do have hardwood floors but I love my Dyson and we usually vacuum everything instead of use a broom or a Swiffer), and, and, wait for it, the dreaded diaper pail. I asked him again if he was sure he did not want to eat breakfast before he got started. He insisted no still. I informed him of where the Lysol was and to take it with him. Meanwhile, I am back to working, transcribing away, and I here him upstairs say, "OH MY GOD!" I just laughed under my breath while working. Did I really just send my 12-year-old son upstairs to do a job I should have done. Well yes, and why not? He better get used to it after all if he ever has kids, which by the way he says is never going to happen, and he is leaving home if we have another baby, which Darrell says is NEVER going to happen. On with my story. I go back to working, see him on the porch outside with the Lysol. He comes back in and says he has it all figured out, put the lid back on, take the pail outside before opening the lid, hold your nose and spray with Lysol before taking the bag out. By the way, he says he is NEVER doing this again. Hey, at least he did it today, right!

Teresa

Homemade Apple Turnovers

2009-07-31T17:44:00.005-04:00

I so love these. I grew up with my mom making these for us. While she was here the other day keeping Aidan for me, she made these. They are so simple.

You just take a can of biscuits, a can of fried applies, sugar, and cinnamon.

Usually we take and mash the applies and add sugar and cinnamon to the mixture. No measuring here, just to your taste.

Flour your counter or cutting board in order to roll out the biscuits. Each biscuit makes a perfect size turnover. Once you have the biscuit rolled out just put in a spoonful of your apple mixture, kind of off to 1 side, and then flop the other side over. Take a fork and crimp the edges, and Voila! Now I should mention here you should have a pan with cooking oil in it. Get that pretty hot, not too hot, probably about medium, but make sure the grease is hot or you will get greasy, doughy turnovers. Drop these in carefully as to not burn yourself or splash the grease on you like I usually do. Wait until they brown and then turn them over for the other side. Take them out and let them cool a bit and soak the grease up on a paper towel. Usually after this we sprinkle just regular sugar on them or even powdered sugar. Enjoy! I sure did that day. Not going to say how many of these I ate, but I think the magic number was 4.

Note to self, do not catch the paper towel on fire like my mom did. She will never get used to cooking with gas again. She almost caught the dishtowel on fire that day too when boiling the corn.

Teresa

Peek-A-Boo

2009-07-31T11:45:00.005-04:00

Now I just had to upload this. Aidan has learned to play peek-a-boo. He just does this stuff spontaneously. Like I said, I expect him to walk soon. Not really, just becuase I think he is doing stuff so early. You can here us all in the background how excited we were. He did this 1st thing yesterday morning while my mom was holding him. You can tell how country we all sound.

Busy as a Bee

2009-07-31T10:43:00.002-04:00

Been super busy here, as are most people. We are trying to get ready for our vacation next week to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Just a quick drop in to tell you about my new buttons I added to my blog on the right. Please click on these and donate for this adoption. The prizes are great and I am sure you will be blessed by helping this wonderful couple bring Lily home. Adrienne's story has touched my heart, and I cannot imagine her heartbreak. All of you who know the struggles of infertility can relate. Please give!

Teresa

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

2009-07-29T23:26:00.005-04:00

Now I don't think I will be wearing 1 of these next week, but hey, the song is quite catchy.

I am sitting here eating scoops with the pineapple mango salsa, which is my 1st time trying this, and I must say I love this stuff.

All this talk about food and bikinis, wow, seems to be what I am concentrating on right now. Next week we are going to the beach. We were planning on this for a while and then something came up to cancel these plans, but now here we are less than 1 week away from leaving, and I never got around to losing that extra baby weight. I never got around to running daily like I used to do. I did, however, get around to eating. After I had Gage I weighed less than I weighed before I got pregnant. I was only in my 20s then, and now here I am at 35, and by the way realized I will be 36 in October, and then in 4 years 40. Where did the years go? Back to where I was, after having Aidan, looks as though I am going to keep an extra 8 to 10 pounds, depending on the day.

When the swimsuits came out this year, I looked but never bought, saying to myself I am not wearing 1 of these this summer, maybe next summer, but no way this year. Oh my, here I am needing a swimsuit and none to be found. Well, they did have lots of size 0, 1, 3 and 5. Nowhere near that and probably never will be. I really do not like to parade around in swimsuits anyway, but sometimes you do need 1. Maybe when we get to Myrtle Beach I can find something. If not, I will wear my old suit from last year and a cover up, which would probably stay on over even the newest of suits.

Believe me when I tell you I did google "how to loose 10 pounds in a week." Yep, I did that. Now I know that would not be healthy and no earthly way for me. I don't have the time to exercise like 3 hours a day and eat about 1000 calories, or do some kind of crazy cleansing diet. I guess this a wake up call, I will not be losing 10 pounds. I can almost bet you that this time next year I will probably still have these 10 pounds. Just the thought of dieting makes me hungry. This was evident when I hit the local Wal-Mart today to fill our cupboards. Everything in the store looked good to me. I did practice some self control. No peanut M & M's here this week.

Teresa

P.S. On a lighter note, little 2-tooth boy, can now sit up. This baby is developing at a rapid rate. I figure next week he will be able to walk. Not really, but 1 can dream. Wait, would that be a dream or a nightmare. I keep saying 1 day he is just going to get up and run around.

Variety is the Spice of Life

2009-07-29T11:49:00.003-04:00

How true. I do get tired of things easily, so I must admit, I grew tired of my blog background. I just wanted something with not so much color. I did not like how all the color interfered with my pictures. I do like things to match. I came across this little site, www.shabbyblogsblog.blogspot.com, see the button on the right. Love their designs, so I switched things up a bit.

We are literally getting tons of rain here today. I thought summer was for a time of great weather. Apparently not. Anyway, we are going to the beach next week, hopefully can do some posts from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Can't wait. By the way, the weather for Myrtle Beach next week, you guessed it, rain. Come on!

I have been enjoying learning to use my new camera and have already learned so much from it. I plan on doing lots of pics of our vacation and a few family type pictures for us too, can't wait.

I know this post is random, but I am trying to diligently work today and not get distracted. Working a little better today than yesterday. I desperately need a vacation so I am hoping next week helps me. Hopefully after while I can post some new pictures I have taken, plus go to the grocery store. Shew, the cockroaches are starving here!

Teresa

Little photo shoot and a quilt

2009-07-28T09:15:00.009-04:00

Darrell surprised me with that new camera I had been wanting. I really hated to spend the money on it, but hey, now that I have it, might as well put it to use. We have been taking pictures like crazy with this thing. I will probably be on Social Security by the time I figure it all out. However, just before I got the new camera, well exactly 1 day, I decided to do some pictures of Aidan in our yard. I have so many bug bites from all the laying on the ground trying to get a good shot. Lucky for Aidan, I did put a quilt down. The quilt in many of these pictures was made by a lady we have known forever. It is called a cathedral window. She quilted on this for about 16 years just a little at a time and mostly only in the winter months. She did say she WOULD NEVER, understand me, NEVER make another quilt like this. When Darrell was a small child, about Gage's age, he told her he liked it while she was still working on it, and she told him that when he got married, she would give it to him. She kept her promise. Not long after we were married, she called him while I was working, and he went and picked the quilt up. Imagine my surprise when I came home and this quilt was on our bed. I love this quilt and will cherish it forever!

Anyway here are a few of our pictures from the other day. These are all just as I took them with nothing photoshopped except for the 1st one, and the lighting was off, so I tried to fix it as best as I could, since I loved the picture.

Did I mention Aidan has 2 teeth now. He is now my little 2 tooth, yes tooth, not teeth, boy. Remember, my blog, I can talk how I want to, and I am thinking I am going to start typing all my slang on here too!

We are still continuing to pray for Stellan and his family.

Teresa

No NOT ME MONDAYS Here!

2009-07-27T09:30:00.004-04:00

All week long I kept a list of my "NOT ME" stuff for my post today, anxious awaiting to post it. However, in lieu of precious Stellan's condition, and since MckMama is the queen of all these "NOT ME MONDAYS", how could we all write these and talk about all the crazy stuff we "DID NOT DO" this week.

I have prayed for Stellan, checked MckMama's tweets feverishly. When I hold my little guy I think of Stellan as there is not a big age gap. Aidan is 5 months. Please continue to pray for Stellan, his mama and his family. He is in pretty bad shape as I type this. Pray for strength for MckMama, Prince Charming and all the MSCs and most of all for Stellan. Pray for his healing, and that people everywhere will see God's Amazing Work in this young baby boy.

Last night I held Aidan and caressed his little head as he slept. I do this many times but today with the thought of Stellan and his mama.

We love you Stellan!

The Burkes

Click on the button "Praying for Stellan" for his story. Check out the left hand side of the blog for the up-to-date tweets from his mama on his condition.

Love the One You're With!

2009-07-24T09:17:00.004-04:00

UPDATE: I just got this big idea to post this. We did not have digital photos when I got married in 1993. You can really tell the age of this pic from our hair and my wedding dress. What were we thinking? Oh well, got to love those 90s. This picture is not that good since it is a picture of a picture but here goes anyway. All I wanted then was a long train, big veil, and puffy sleeves that the ends came down to points on my hand. Here you go. WOW, how our taste changes. Good thing I still like my husband and not this dress. I would so do things different today, much more simpler design and less over the top, and not such big hair. You know the 80s and 90s, the bigger the better. I again apologize for these pics.

Fastforward a bit to my mom's house in 2008, as you can see he does not like much pictures and I am ashamed that we have no current pics of us together. I hope to remedy that this weekend.

Sixteen years ago today I married the 1 I love, the 1 have spent my life with, the 1 I plan on spending the rest of my life with. Things have not always been a bed of roses, and I think most people who are honest will admit that, but overall, the big picture, the Lord has truly blessed us. We have a new home, good jobs, loving family and 2 beautiful, healthy sons, and well, each other. There have been times we have argued, disagreed and just not gotten along. There have been times I did not want to speak to him and I am sure likewise for him, but all in all, life is good. I pray to spend more wonderful years with my loving husband, and I want to thank Darrell for putting up with me, for thinking he can read my mind and all my little mood swings.

Teresa

Blogging My Life

2009-07-23T09:13:00.006-04:00

Looks like I got the background blur here too. Love these feet!

This is what Aidan and I do a lot of in the summer. Any guesses?

Hooray for the red, white and blue.

Gage and Savannah, our cousin, doing some serious fishing. Bill Dance wannabes.

I am going to chew this little chicken's head off if you don't feed me. If you only knew how much this baby looks like his daddy. I hope to show you soon. He looks so much like Gage when he was a baby, if I only had my scanner hooked up to my new computer, you could see. This little chew toy was my sisters who is 20, and then Gage used it and now Aidan loves it.

The large fish Gage and Savannah caught, a blue gill, and there is my blurry background. Voila!

Our lab, Emily. She is about 10 years old but a great dog.

Emily just trying to ignore me, but got my background blurry.

I love to blog, and even more so love to read other blogs. I have found so many wonderful blogs that I enjoy to read, many I check 1st thing every day. I am wanting to change my blog up a little bit just trying to find the time. I could seriously make this a full-time job, but remember, I have 1 of those. Wait! I think I have many of those, cook, launderer, taxi driver, doctor, etc. You get the picture.

I have been working on my photography some, not much this week though since we are swamped with work. I have trials of Photoshop Elements and Lightrooom right now, and I have already learned so much. A friend of Darrell's has both of these programs and promises to let me borrow them for a longer time, and he also says he knows how to do all kinds of things. Now, if he can just get the time to come here and show me how to do all the stuff he knows on these programs, I will be set. I cannot even begin to tell you how many batteries my camera has gone through in the last few weeks trying to get that background blur down, and finally, I think I have it. The only thing is my camera is not the best for doing this, but now I know it can be done. My only regret is I finally made this happen with a picture of our dog and of a fish. Might I say the picture of the fish was bad, half cut off, but the blur was good.

Tomorrow is a special day for us, our 16th anniversary. We wanted to go somewhere for the day but I have to work and then they are also bringing the trusses for my mom's house, so it looks as though we will be here. I am not even sure we will be able to go out and eat somewhere nice but maybe Saturday. Meanwhile the house is still torn apart from all the painting. Aidan did go to bed early last night so I was able to get some things put back together. Hopefully with the weekend coming up, I can get more accomplished. I really am anxious to get some pics on here but not sure when.

Teresa

Kentucky Bourbon Balls

2009-07-21T12:23:00.006-04:00

I must admit, I love these and can eat an entire box. We purchased these at Rebecca Ruth Candy and I loved them. I mean the combination of chocolate, nuts and bourbon, well who would not like them. I love the smell. Gage asked if they would make you drunk and be careful eating them while driving mom, you might get a DUI. I had to explain the entire concept of cooking with alcohol to him. Anyhoo, we all love them, and I ALWAYS pick these up when down around that area but you can get them at http://www.rebeccaruth.com/. Try some! By the way, we toured her factory while there, it was great. If ever in Frankfort, Ky, go by and pay them a visit.

Anyway, I have been so craving these and wanting to make these. I know when I do make these, I will probably eat these for 3 meals a day and even in between. I have been searching the web for good recipes for these, and I have come across this 1. This is the 1 I am going to make this weekend. I am posting this recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/. I love this site and get many good recipes from here. I always read the reviews, and if the reviews are not good, I always pass on them.

This is the recipe they have that is rated the highest, and the 1 I have chosen to make.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup chopped nuts
5 tablespoons Kentucky bourbon
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (16 ounce) package confectioners' sugar
18 ounces semisweet chocolate

DIRECTIONS
Place the nuts in a sealable jar. Pour the bourbon over the nuts. Seal and allow to soak overnight.
Mix the butter and sugar; fold in the soaked nuts. Form into 3/4" balls and refrigerate overnight. Line a tray with waxed paper. Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over just-barely simmering water, stirring frequently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching. Roll the balls in the melted chocolate to coat; arrange on the prepared tray. Store in refrigerator until serving.

Make for sure you use the best bourbon you can get. I have also read that crushing the nuts and soaking in bourbon in the refrigerator for about 24 hours prior to making this candy makes the bourbon taste really pop.

I hope you enjoy these.

P.S. I love these so much, knowing I could not get to Frankfort soon or even Mt. Sterling. I contemplated when the delivery guys brings my mom's trusses for her house she is building that since they are located in Mt. Sterling, he could pick me up a box of these. Do you think he would think I was crazy? Probably so.

Teresa

TIME FOR SOME RECOGNITION

2009-07-21T09:50:00.004-04:00

Having a baby is very time consuming, and sometimes we seem to forget, well not forget, but not really have the time or the energy for other people in our lives. I know I seem to blog more about the baby than Gage but Aidan is attached at the hip and well, Gage is quickly growing up. I know that eventually he will be doing things on his own and quickly moving toward being an adult.

I want to take this time today to recognize 1 special guy in my life. Remember, I have 3. This guy is my baby and will always be my baby. I can still remember his cute little face as a baby, things he did, things he said.

Gage is a really good kid. He does great in school, is very well behaved and we really do not have any problems with him. All the teachers say they wish they had an entire classroom of kids like Gage. He is aspiring to be a teacher, and this is fine with us. We do wish he would chose something that would make him a little more money since teachers deserve so much more money than they make.

Gage is a great helper. He gets me stuff for the baby, loads the dishwasher, vacuums, picks up laundry, feeds the dogs and many more countless tasks to which some are prompted and some are just on his own. He also cleans and vacuums the pool. He is so insistent it stay clean. He showers every day without us having to tell him. I mean, how many 12-year-old boys do that. We do have to remind on the teeth brushing still. And, I do still fix his hair. I joke I will be doing this until he is 30, but that is fine with me.

Lately I can see him changing, his voice is changing, he is taller than me now, almost wears the same size shoe as his dad, and they do wear the same size clothes. How did this happen? Can I change this somehow? Where did my baby go? Time goes buy so fast and I can see this already happening with Aidan.

I wanted to take this time to tell my #1 guy how much I love him and love having him as my son. Mommy is busy a lot with the baby, and you are moving on in things in your life. I know that in 3 years you will be driving a car. Scary, huh? I cannot even begin to imagine these changes taking place in your life. I just want you to remember I will always love you, you will always be my baby and I am always here for you no matter what.

Love,
Mom

2009-07-20T10:06:00.005-04:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Wow, what a week. I have had so many "NOT ME" days, I could not even count. I seriously need to start keeping a list.

Yesterday morning while in church during the special singing, which happened to be my mom, Aidan was so happy to see her, smiling and cooing and all, I DID NOT so want him to scream out loud at her just so everyone could see how cute he was, Nope, not me.

I wish I had a picture of this, but I did NOT forget my camera on our road trip yesterday. Nope, not me. Anyway, I did NOT cover my infant son up with my pink scarf while he slept yesterday. Nope, not me.

We did not stop at a local store yesterday and buy fresh corn and tomatoes to only forget the corn. Nope, not us.

I did not go to the bathroom and hold Aidan while I sat on the toilet, Nope, not me.

I did not wear the same clothes 2 days in a row, sleep in them to only have Gage look at me and say, Mom, didn't you wear that shirt yesterday? To which I replied, yes, and I slept in it too. Nope, not me.

I did not almost get run over by a car in the church parking lot yesterday, Nope, not me.

I did not put some new plates in a hutch yesterday morning with the tags still on them to have Gage tell me, Mom, those look real good there, blue tags and all. Nope, not me.

I did not run to the grocery store to get ice cream to go with our fresh blackberry cobbler, vanilla to be exact, then get home and ask who bought this maple nut ice cream, Nope, not me, and we all did not eat that maple nut ice cream on our cobbler instead of the vanilla someone was supposed to buy, Nope, not us.

I am sure there are many more crazy things I have done this week

STOP THE PRESSES!

2009-07-20T08:29:00.004-04:00

The news for Monday morning is, drum roll please, Aidan has a tooth. Yep, you heard me. My almost 5-month-old baby has his 1st little pearl breaking through the skin. You can feel it with your finger and he loves to bite down hard. You know that old adage, hurts so good. Must be the same for him. I have been diligently checking him for teeth for a while since he chews and drools all the time. I happened to be feeding him his supper last night, which now consists of 2 jars of baby food (man this kid is an eater!), when I discovered it. I could see his little gum had what appeared to be a little slice right where a tooth could be. As soon as he was finished eating, I mean you never interrupt his eating since he cries between each bite as it is, I checked and Voila! My Little Tooth Boy, his new nickname. I immediately got the phone and started calling everyone, and then everyone who called the house this evening I told them or kept telling Darrell to tell them Aidan has a tooth. I figure another will be close behind.

We are still very busy here right now, which I think is the general consensus for most people about now. We are trying to plan a vacation, helping mom with building her house, which by the way now resembles a house, and just trying to catch up on things here. The walls are up and the interior walls framed. Moving right along thanks to some wonderful contractors with so far some great work ethic. Let's not count our chickens before they hatch. The trusses for the roof should be here any day and then I will let you guys see.

We are still trying to get our house painted. Any other time this would have been done long ago but with a baby, things move kind of slow. You see, I have to work on his schedule. I am hoping this does not take me as long as my SIL who painted her house inside a few years ago, and I mean it literally took her an entire year to get this finished with kids, school and other chores. I don't think I could stand the mess that long. However, we have 1 room almost completely finished and some nice little projects to show you. We finally hung the curtains yesterday in the family room and I am going to post about them this week, hopefully.

Today I think will also be a painting day. I am changing everything pretty much to a white-themed farmhouse look with less stuff. I used to think more was better but with having to clean everything, I am now liking the saying, less is more. This is hard for me since I have so much stuff and I just hate to get rid of it, have no time for a yard sale and really don't live in a place to do such thing, so maybe Ebay. Will let you guys know if I post stuff on Ebay you might like. And, I definitely have a hard time just throwing things away. I keep thinking I can use this for something or do this with that. That is probably the reason we don't park our cars in our garage. You think? This also is soon going to change.

Well off to work for me.

Teresa

Struggles

2009-07-15T09:23:00.004-04:00

If I could only have a dollar for every time someone asked me when I was going to have another baby, WOW, and then if I could have another dollar for every time someone asked me while I was pregnant, Why I waited so long?, WOW. I think you get the picture, I would be rich.

When we got married almost 16 years ago we did want to wait a while before having a baby but then when we decided to get pregnant, it took almost 2 years, and to say the least, we were surprised and not truly expecting it that month. Maybe that is what it takes, stop trying so hard and just live life. Who knows. Soon after Gage was around 4 months and he was growing out of that newborn stage, my motherly instinct kicked in again and I wanted to be pregnant again, knowing with working and financially this was just not something we could do at this point. Soon the feeling left me and I moved on from that feeling. I think they call it the terrible 2's. When Gage was 5 we thought about another baby and nothing happened. Again, this became on the back burner. A few years later, feelings crept up again, and again, nothing happened. By this time people were constantly asking me if I was going to have anymore children. I always dismissed this as I did not want anymore, and I must admit, for a while I did not, but I mainly said this because I did not want people to know my struggles with infertility. I was ashamed of this. It was like a dirty little secret that we were not getting pregnant. What was wrong with us? I decided to visit my doctor and ask for help to only get her response that 1 child was enough and I did not need to have anymore. What, you are making this decision for me. I continued on my journey just living life as if it happened, then we would love and enjoy a new baby. Here were are in 2008, I am 34 years old, knowing my age is not helping matters any, and longing for another baby. The difference now is that I have ditched my once-loved doctor and moved on to a new doctor, willing to share my struggles and asking God for a baby, praying if it is his will. The difference too, I had been diagnosed with thyroid disease, and the doctor was saying I had had this since Gage was about 5. What, that long. Could this be my problem? More than likely it was. I had been treating this thyroid disease for about 2 years now, since I was about 32 years old. Thyroid disease is something that can totally mess up your entire body functioning, as many of you know as you struggle with this disease too. When I think back to my life, I knew this was a possibility, all the signs were there, but just dismissed it and went about my day. Now that I had switched OB-GYN doctors and willing to do testing and take fertility drugs if need be, we were making some progress. I was thinking my body was getting back to normal after all this time of dealing with these thyroid issues. The wonderful migraine headaches had returned thanks to my hormones, and I was now getting a positive on my ovulation tests. My new doctor was saying to give it 6 months of ovulation tests and then we would move to the next step. Sounded like a good idea. Five months later, no pregnancy, lots of tests, lots of positive ovulation tests but no positive pregnancy test. I meanwhile was praying, asking God for a baby, fasting and doing all I could. I would see people just have babies constantly not even trying, people just dropping babies by the roadside, people using drugs while pregnant. Life did not seem fair. I tried to tell myself that life is not fair, I had a good life, I had a healthy child and a loving husband, be thankful. I was thankful but still the desire was there. I can remember 1 week in particular in my life, remember the clothes I had on and the events of the day. I was so very tired by around 7 that evening, showered and ready for bed, the thought did pop into my mind I had not been this tired since being pregnant with Gage, I was late, but probably just another stupid negative test. I waited until morning, woke with an excruciating headache, figured what the heck, 1 test left, and if negative, giving up again. At this point we had purchased the digital tests. We needed that definite answer. We got that, our definite answer: PREGNANT. What? How could this be? I was ecstatic. And then the panic set it, what if this is wrong, what if something happens to the baby. I think I carried this feeling throughout my entire pregnancy, letting it rob me of much of the joy I should have been experiencing. I prayed that everything would be okay, and then 1 day I came across a verse. Samuel 1:27, "For this child I have prayed, and the Lord has granted me this." This to me was my sign. The Lord works in mysterious ways. He knows our life. He has our plan, not us. I firmly believe Aidan is a gift from God. Children are a gift from God. God has a time and a place in our life and we know not what or when. I have tried to make for sure each and every time someone has asked me why I waited so long for another baby to remind them that God has a plan for us and he has given me this baby when the time was right for him, and we have to follow God's plan.

After having Aidan I can remember going back for my checkup, missing my baby inside of me, know he was home and healthy, but missing being pregnant, knowing I may never get to be pregnant again. Still wanting to be pregnant. Sounds crazy, I know, but I think I had longed for this so long I did not want it to be over.

On a lighter note, here Aidan is about 4.5 months, same feelings creeping up again, should I have another baby so Aidan has a sibling closer in age. I say yes, Darrell says no. I hang on to baby clothes, pack them away instead of instantly getting rid of them. I hang on to maternity clothes, pack them away instead of getting rid of them. Would it be hard, yes. Would we struggle, yes. Would we make it, yes.

This morning as I look at my children, I love them so much and today I am wanting to have that other baby. Some days are hard, I am tired and overworked, but I would do it all again.

Teresa

Just another Manic Monday

2009-07-14T09:48:00.004-04:00

Except it is Tuesday and I meant to do this yesterday. Oh well, like I said, manic Monday, and not talking about the 80's group, The Bangles. Yes, I grew up with this kind of music and still like to listen to 80's music. Most of Gage's friends are amazed at how much he knows about 80's music too, but what can I say, we sing along together and act crazy to these songs.

Boy have we been busy, staining the porch, painting the entire house including trim and ceilings, being general contractor to my mom and dad's house, which has all the foundation laid and they are bringing the wood today, Yippee!!, moving right along. I think Darrell spent about 4 hours on the phone yesterday with companies getting price quotes and estimates. Saturday we spent all day going to a discount building supply store to get windows, and she got some of the most adorable glass doorknobs I have seen. I have coveted these knobs, I must say, even though I know I am not supposed to covet. Note to self, pray about this. These knobs remind me of old knobs on older houses, love them!

I have been so busy trying to pull off some of those artsy photos MckMama takes. I think I have used an entire package of batteries trying to get that blurry background down. I have come to the conclusion my camera will do this slightly but not so much. I have also been playing around with several Photoshop programs, and I must say, I am loving these. I have not had much time to do much with these, but working on it. I have a 30-day trial of the Photoshop Elements program before I decide to purchase this. I am so wanting to learn more about photography so I can choose to take more pictures of my children and family without all the expense professional photographers take, plus having to load them up and get there in 1 piece with everyone still having clothes on and no mishaps in the car seat with the poopie diapers. I am hearing a new more expensive camera calling my name, hint, hint to Darrell for our anniversary which is coming up.

Meanwhile our house is a shipwreck right now and not like the Titanic. I tried to get Darrell to just concentrate on 1 room at a time. This worked fine for a bit and then he decided to let the guy do all the trim and doors upstairs. At this time we have no doors on any of the bedrooms, family room and at 1 point even the bathroom. I did make him put that door back on as soon as it was dry so I could shower. I mean, I am not too crazy showering without a door on the bathroom with people in here helping to paint our house.

Aidan is growing so fast, sitting up great in his high chair we just got him, liking his exersaucer and his jumper and becoming oh so vocal. He smiles constantly at you and is my little hip baby so to speak. He is always on my hip while I am doing things.

Gage is growing too. He will be 13 in October, an official teenager, and just think, 3 more years he will be allowed to drive. Where has time gone? Right now he has just finished reading "23 minutes in Hell." Yes, you heard me right. He reads books that are more mature for him. He has read several along this line and is awaiting the "90 minutes in Heaven" book as soon as we come across this. He has also read "The Shack" and liked this book too. I would do links for all this stuff but I have not had time to figure this out yet. You could say I like to blog but I am lazy and just like to get it over with, but mostly because I need to be working and not blogging, speaking of which I need to get back to.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Teresa

Christmas in July

2009-07-09T08:59:00.006-04:00

Gage has wanted this lamp for a while, just too expensive.

Aidan does not look too thrilled with Santa, but it won't take him long to figure out what this is all about.

No, we are not having a sale here, just a few more pictures from our vacation to Pigeon Forge.

Gage is my Christmas man. He has always loved Christmas from the beginning of life. Now don't get me wrong when I say he likes the presents because he does, but actually likes all the decorations. He has always been in awe of Christmas lights. He loves to look at them and actually play with them. Yes, you heard me right. He would string them literally all over our house all year long. He kept them in neat little rolled up balls ready for decorating at just about any time. We would buy these on Ebay, yard sales, junk stores and even new ones when they were out. Christmas to him was a time to play. As you got older he started to want Christmas lights that were old, and many times we have obliged him by buying them for him. I figured no different than buying a toy. At least he played with the lights longer. I can remember many times for presents family members would buy him miniature Christmas trees and even boxes of lights. My mom did bring to my attention once that there was a lead warning on the lights, and that did freak me out a little bit, but he is fine.

Over the past few years he has gotten out of playing with the lights especially since he got his own laptop, the lights are not cool now, but he does help with all the decorations here, all 9 trees he feels we need. He still feels like everything has to be over the top when it comes to Christmas, and still enjoys looking at the lights each year. I just know that when he is older his house will be like the house on National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. And yes, he loves this movie. He just could never realize why we used light clips and did not staple our lights like Clark W. Grizwald. I have watched several Extreme Christmas shows on HGTV before, and a lot of these people started their decorating frenzy when they were younger so I know this will be Gage. He is destined to be on 1 of these shows.

These pictures are from Pigeon Forge at The Christmas Shop. He loves to go here and look, but this year he seemed a little less impressed. I knew this was coming, girls might be creeping into the picture, UGH!

Teresa

Upside down, topsy turvy

2009-07-08T09:28:00.005-04:00

This is kind of how I have felt the past few days, still battling this cold, coughed so hard my ribs feel as if they are broken. I probably should go to the doctor but I really don't have much time off from work with just coming back from maternity leave, plus I am trying to save what I have in order to take Gage to the beach in August. Sacrifices a mother makes. Today I am feeling much better, less coughing but still my ribs are sore. I planned on pictures for our 4th of July celebration but I really did not feel like it. I did take a few of Aidan during the day but that is just about it. We did not even go to the 4th of July Fireworks display.

On Sunday I was scheduled to work and about midday my computer crashed. It had a virus. Now, I am not a computer expert and this just about freaked me out. I mean, here I am supposed to be working and no computer. It seems this happens to me about every 3 years, having to buy a new computer. This sucks as they are not cheap and I am pretty tight about stuff like this. But you see, as a dear friend at http://www.thekimmiefiles.blogspot.com/ once said, you have to spend money to make money, and so true that is. Without a computer, I have no job. I know the computer could have been cleaned up but waiting on the computer guy and waiting until Monday would have been more time off from work and less money made. At this point, I felt like my world was falling apart with not being able to work and having to spend money on a computer, the house needing cleaned, laundry to do, and working. It seems like it is never ending. Darrell just smoothed it over and said let's go get a new computer, so off we went. Needless to say I do love having this new computer, actually liking Windows Vista pretty well, but still not liking spending the money, or spending my entire Sunday reloading programs and getting things set back up in order to be able to work on Monday morning.

I kept trying to tell myself not to get upset about this. I kept trying to tell myself things could be worse. As we were driving to the local Wal-Mart we passed a house just below me, grass high, no curtains, trash still in the driveway and not a person or animal in site. You see, this home is in foreclosure. A young couple bought it just about 2 short years ago, he lost his job and they tried to sell with no luck. Wow, things could be worse. I also thought about a young girl named Kate who is battling a brain tumor. Wow, things could be worse.

God has a way of showing us that no matter how hard we think things can be, somewhere somebody has it worse. I was able to buy this new computer, I have a job, I am able to sleep in my own bed at night in my own home, I have food on my table and my family is healthy. What a blessing!

Teresa

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

2009-07-03T08:58:00.003-04:00

I have been looking forward to a post about July 4th, so here we are and I am sick as can be. I have been fighting a terrible cold in the summer. I mean come on, summer colds are terrible, and this seems to be when I always get them. Because of this cold, my post will probably be short. I feel terrible, sneezing, stuffy head, runny nose and well, you get the picture, but I figured I could at least take the time to wish you guys a Happy Independence Day!

Yesterday Aidan got vaccinations and was a bit cranky the entire day so I pretty much just held him all day. He has gotten to where if he does not know you, he cries when you take him to hold. The little lip just puckers up and drops down and boo hoo hoo.

I am sure this will be busy weekend here at our house as it will be for many of you. Get out, enjoy your family and go see some fireworks. We are planning on it, but not sure how Aidan will react.

Teresa

Total Randomness to Wordless Wednesday

2009-07-01T08:01:00.004-04:00

Let go of me, I can do this on my own!

What are you looking at?

Thank you father for this exersaucer and especially for this

flower that I so need to get in my mouth.

Yummy, yummy Cake!

Somebody please get me out of this thing!

I was just going to do a Wordless Wednesday post again, but seems like I always have something to say. Aidan and I have been fighting colds, and I think he is doing much, much better, but me, I think worse. My head feels as though it is going to explode so that is the reason I have not posted as much lately.

Anyway, here is some randomness to our week and weekend. Aidan attended his 1st Sweet 16 Birthday Party, and boy was that cake good!

He is beginning to like is exersaucer more and more, and can now even play with the stuff all around him. He is growing up so fast. He plays with his feet all the time, and yesterday, held his bottle. I mean literally held it all by himself until I decided to help him and that is when he decided I could just hold it.

I think probably 1 of my favorite flowers are black-eyed Susans. It just so happens, these grow wild on our farm and I love to cut them and put in vases, well in my case, an old ice-cream bucket. I just love using odd things for vases or containers.

Teresa

Titanic Coming to Pigeon Forge Spring 2010

2009-06-29T16:20:00.005-04:00

I know sounds impossible, right? Believe me it is not. I have the pictures to prove it. In the midst of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, a replica of the Titanic ship is being built. This is not true to size but pretty doggone big. One will be able to walk the grand staircase and experience many of the things on board the Titanic. Imagine if you will, you were on Titanic's maiden voyage.

Here is a list of a few things you will be able to do.

Walk Titanic’s Grand Staircase
Touch the frozen surface of an “iceberg”
Feel the chill of that fateful “Starry Night
Study some of the largest, most detailed Titanic models ever built
Grip the ship’s wheel and follow the Captain’s commands
Tour world-class galleries and the rare historical artifacts they hold
Sit in a Titanic lifeboat and listen to actual survivors tell their stories
Send an SOS from the Marconi Wireless Room
Test their balance while standing on mini-decks built to show the ever-steeper slope of Titanic as she sank
Watch children six years and younger explore the special interactive Titanic Tot Play-and-Learn Room
Dive to Titanic’s wreck site via spectacular underwater camera footage

Gage went through a phase a couple years back when he was on a kick about the Titanic. This was great for me, great history for him to learn. We cannot wait to go back and visit this attraction.

Here is the website if you want to check out the facts about this museum being built. http://www.titanicpigeonforge.com/

Teresa

Camden Park

2009-06-25T14:32:00.006-04:00

Today Gage went here with my SIL and her 2 kids. I will just call them M&M's. They are 6 and 8 years old and so love this place. Gage is a little beyond this but he does love going with them, and they always have a good time.

Camden Park is located in Huntington, West Virginia. It is a small amusement park with very small rides but still a pretty good place to take kids. It is basically 1 of the only things we have to do in this area. Many of the rides are old, especially the Big Dipper. This is a wooden roller coaster that is around 50 years old, and is 1 of the oldest in the world. People do travel here to ride this ride. Coaster enthusiasts love it since it is an old, wooden coaster. All I can say is when you are waiting in line and look at this ride, it does not look safe, and you tell yourself, I am sure they check it, RIGHT?

Here is a you tube video of the Big Dipper. I hope it plays. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxZHpW6SXLQ

Not only do they have the Big Dipper, they have a Haunted House. It is not scary to say the least, but I can remember as a child thinking about how scary this was. Here is the video, as you can see, nothing but darkness, not much to see. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe_oJyDeRa4

The people in these videos are not my family, just random people some guy filmed and put these videos on You Tube.

Now I will not have any pictures of this day since I am here working. I will not have any cotton candy since I am here working. I will not have any corn dogs (and they do have the best), well they are called Pronto Pups, since I am here working. But it is also pouring the rain today so I am thinking they are getting pretty wet right now, but I would still have liked to have been there, making memories with MY BIGGEST LITTLE MAN, but I am here working, well supposed to be but actually working on this post.

Many of you who are now far away can tell friends and family you have rode The Big Dipper and The Haunted House at Camden Park in Huntington, WV.

Gotta run, I hear Aidan on the monitor.

Teresa

P.S. I craved those Pronto Pups when I was pregnant with Aidan. We would take Gage to Camden Park just so I could eat Pronto Pups.

Parking Greeter

2009-06-25T11:16:00.001-04:00

Ever been greeted by a parking greeter who looks like this?

And their clothes look like that,

I am sure many parking greeters have felt like this before, huh?

Didn't think so. This is our scarecrow. I think the hat came from a second hand store, and the shirt, well I think it is 1 of my husband's old work shirts with the name and logo torn off. I don't think the federal government would want that posted on the internet. Oops, did I say my husband worked for the federal government? Let's skip that part.

Remember a while back I posted about the scarecrow. Well, he is actually in front of where my mom's new house will be. I guess we will be losing him or moving him as I am sure they do not want to look out their windows to see him. He is pretty scary when the corn is tall and the wind is rustling the corn. I don't think he has ever actually came off this pole, at least I hope not. I am pretty sure he is fixed pretty tight on there. Now does he do his job? No!! The crows eat our corn as soon as it comes through the ground. I think this is actually the 1st year they have left it alone, and I am not quite sure why. Maybe he does come off the pole. Normally we have tin pans tied on strings and all around the garden to keep the deer and crows away, and still does not work. Yes, we do have a dog, but she just lays on the front porch and watches them. It is just too hot according to her.

Teresa

Groundbreaking Ceremony

2009-06-25T11:02:00.001-04:00

The footer for the house is dug.

Before the footer.

Her house will also contain 1 of these, as we love porches around here in the country.

Wow, Wordless Wednesday was hard for me as I always have so much too say. I logged in several times to do another post but tried to remain at my word. Aidan and I both have little colds so that is annoying both of us right now and I did think about posting late last night but I was so ready for bed with my head all congested and with little sleep from the night before.

Did we hold an actual groundbreaking ceremony, well no, but we should have. My mom and I and Aidan worked so hard yesterday helping with this. If you notice the 2 chairs in the picture, well those are ours. And Gage, well he swam the entire time to stay cool. The only thing we basically did was make sure the guys stayed hydrated and I cooked supper for them. In the next few days we hope to have a tent for the yard to keep the bugs off of us and to give us some shade.

Yesterday we started the groundbreaking on my mom's house on our farm. This will be a smaller house for her and my dad with less to take care of, plus they will next to us and this will make babysitting a breeze for me and her. She is very excited and we cannot wait to pick out all the new stuff for the house. I am going to post all the different stages of this house, and we are sure hoping it does not take too long. You see, she has a girl already trying to buy her house, and if the bank comes through, voila, they are outer there and going to have to move in with me. For months I have been telling her to try to be getting rid of things she really doesn't need, and she has.

Teresa

Wordless Wednesday

2009-06-24T09:25:00.002-04:00

Well almost wordless. How do you know you need a break from blogging, when you are up at night around 2:35 a.m. and your mind is racing about things to blog about. So today, I take a little break and leave you with this.

Teresa

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

2009-06-23T08:32:00.008-04:00

The Mansion itself with a hearse in front of it.

Why can they never take a good picture without being crazy faced and all?

Not sure why I am smiling, I think just glad to be out!

I always like to go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and actually wish we had stayed there instead of Pigeon Forge, that is until we get there with the bumper to bumper traffic and all the people. I think it must have been 105 degrees there on Saturday. There are no shades and all the cars make it feel so much hotter than it probably actually is. Many of the shops have their doors open to attract customers so we would dart in and out to try to stay cool and keep Aidan cool. At 1 point his little cheeks were so red we knew we had to get out of this place. The only thing we could think was to feed him some ice cream to cool him off, and that we did. I know, I know, ice cream to a 17-week old baby, well it was just a little and I chose the raspberry sorbet for him. He loved it! Imagine that, a baby liking ice cream. He kept it down and really gave him no problems.

We had so much planned to do in Gatlinburg but I think since we all just about stroked out, we forgot about all of our plans. We did manage to go to Mysterious Mansion, and it was pretty fun, well scary to say the least. The lady at the desk told us they had this haunted house up to #5 in the United States for scaring people. I know I am 35 years old and know all this was wake, but there is something about being in a house you know nothing about with complete strangers jumping out to scar you in complete and utter darkness. I am not very up with that. I think I screamed the entire way through this place. It was completely dark, had no clue which way to go and they made me got 1st with Gage crammed completely into me and my sister taking up the back. I think at 1 point we were all hugged around each other. Gage kept walking on my shoes and I knew any minute I was going to leave this place barefoot. At 1 point I did contemplate taking the emergency exit because I was so done with this place. Needless to say after all the screaming I did, my throat was pretty sore and my heart was racing. And no, we did not take Aidan inside for this. Darrell stayed outside with him and they took a breather by the stream that runs in front of this house.

I have been to the Ripley's Haunted House before, and this place is so much better. So the next time you are in Gatlinburg, tour the Mysterious Mansion. I am sure you will like it.

Teresa

Vacation Means Good Eatin'

2009-06-22T17:44:00.002-04:00

I always look forward to eating at new restaurants when on vacation, and this was no exception, but the 1 thing I really like is fudge, and in what seemed to be everywhere I turned this weekend was The Fudgery. I knew if I got this stuff, I would eat and eat it, that is 1 reason I always delay making it at home. I just cannot pass it up. The 1st day I made it but we had just had ice cream.

The 2nd day while shopping at the outlet malls (I love these!!), I decided we would buy some. We picked out 2 kinds, rocky road and vanilla, and then the girl said if you buy 1 more you get 1 free. Free, well that was good enough for me. So we ended up with vanilla, rocky road, cookies n' cream and peanut butter and chocolate mixed (chocolate on the outside with a twist of peanut butter running through the middle). We started with just a few pinches here and there and then bigger pieces, and by the time my shopping was over, I felt like I had a major sweet fix going on and oh was I thirsty. Needless to say we munched on this fudge the entire trip home. I kept wondering if a pound of fudge would make you gain a pound of weight. I was kind of worried about that as I had sure eaten a lot of this fudge. By the time we got home, no fudge left except for the Cookies n' Cream, and I think Gage sneaked it for breakfast this morning. We NEVER eat junk food for breakfast here, NEVER I SAY.

This taste of fudge only leaves me wanting to make more, but we are going to skip. I have to get these last baby pounds off, and I am almost certain this is not going to happen if I keep eating fudge.

By the way did I mention the fudge was right at 30 bucks. I think Darrell just about freaked cause I know I did when she said how much it was. I justified it by saying, you know fudge is expensive to make, and he just looked at me like, yeah right!

Teresa

They're Everywhere!!

2009-06-22T11:15:00.006-04:00

Literally, they were everywhere we went. No one wants to go on vacation to only have someone constantly hassling you about buying a resort or timeshare. Everywhere we went, there were booths or people constantly asking how long we were going to be in town, what were we doing, would we like 75 dollars. Well yes, who would not like 75 dollars, but not at the cost of going to watch a promo for a certain resort, who shall rename nameless. I am not quite sure about mentioning their name on here and legal issues. This got real annoying, to the point that we were literally just walking out the doors of places and ignoring these people. They just would not shut up.

We finally make it in a place to eat with no hassle. I will mention here it was Cracker Barrel. Our waiter seemed very friendly, well almost to the point of annoying. I literally thought he was going to just sit down and eat our meal with us. We could not even eat without him talking to us. We could not even carry on conversation with our family without him talking to us. He just kept coming back and coming back. Eventually he said he had moved there from South Carolina and started working initially for unnamed resort company. Well, that explains it all. He definitely missed his calling and needs to go back to working for unnamed resort company and leave his job as a waiter. My sister kept looking at him like he was crazy, and yes, I think he might very well be close.

Needless to say, they're everywhere. I felt like I would come home and 1 of these people would great me at my door. This is where i SCREAM!!!!!

Teresa

Weekend Road Trip

2009-06-22T08:41:00.002-04:00

Pretty tired this morning but loving our trip. You see, on Friday on a spur of the moment, I decided we would head to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which is only about 5 hours from where we live. We packed hurriedly and headed on our way. We got back late last night and with so much to do, dirty laundry, bottles and unpacking, plus rocking my baby is his rocking chair that he so desperately missed, I had no time to blog. I have so much to blog about, the kids riding the go-karts, the hot, hot weather, feeding Aidan ice cream, the haunted house and so much more, I will have to do this a little later today, so keep checking back.

Teresa

Thank You Lord For Your Many Blessings!

2009-06-19T14:24:00.003-04:00

I have read so many blogs of people with sick babies, babies who do not live and many other cases. I want to take this time to thank the Lord for my 2 healthy children. I love these children and want that to be known.

Teresa

Please Pray For Stellan

2009-06-19T09:40:00.001-04:00

Head on over to www.mycharmingkids.net and read his updates. Stellan is back in the hospital. Please pray for his family and this little guy.

Teresa

What We Did Late Last Night

2009-06-19T08:49:00.003-04:00

After all the rushing around this week, even with laundry still to do, bottles to be made, we had to take some time to relax. I have to make an effort to try not to forget I have another child at home and he needs my attention. Babies take up a lot of your time, but I always want Gage to know I love him beyond words and he will always be my baby no matter how big or how old he is. I can still remember the very moment I laid eyes upon him when he was born. He has grown so much and even this last year began to look more mature and older out of his face. I hate that he is losing his baby face look.

After we got home, he wanted to swim as he loves to swim at night. We decided a fire in the fire pit would be great, so we did this, and ate Smores. We love these. We did have to compromise a bit as we had no Hershey bars. I did have an old candy kit from Easter to make chocolate suckers out of so we used the white chocolate in that kit, and they were actually pretty good. Marshmallows, graham crackers and white chocolate. Not sure about you guys, but I always burn my marshmallows. Love them that way. My family thinks I crazy when I do this. By the way, Aidan only ate his hands. He thinks they taste pretty good.

We had a great little family evening to end a busy week. I encourage you all to enjoy time with your family and try to not sweat the small stuff.

Teresa

Childhood Memories

2009-06-19T08:41:00.005-04:00

Wow, what a whirlwind week. We have been so busy with work, the kids and yes, Vacation Bible School. It is a pleasure at the end of the week to see all the children do their little skits and sing their songs. Thursday was the last night and the church always plans a family night with food and funflatables for the kids to jump in. They all love this.

I did not get a chance to get many pictures this week. It is pretty difficult with taking care of 16-week old baby and helping with 3 to 5-year-old children.

I can remember as a child going to VBS and getting cookies and Kool-Aid to drink. This was a highlight for me. Times have definitely changed. We give these kids pretty much full meals every night, and so many more activities than when I was small. Plus, not to mention the last day with all the goodies and the funflatables. What more could a child want?

I pray that through this week something was instilled in these children's hearts and mind that they may take this with them throughout their life.

Teresa

What You Might Find Down a Country Road

2009-06-18T08:51:00.008-04:00

Driving down a country road. Should be the title to a country song, huh? Well, maybe not. You see, I have strived for a road like this, gravel on the sides and grass growing in the middle. Many people want the pavement, but me, I like this, well except when it rains or in the winter and you get mud with grass growing in the middle. Needless to say, we have been about 4 years getting this road to this point, and another part still does not have the grass in the middle and seems to have more mud puddles. Anyway, where does this lead you? It leads you here, and once you are here, you might find these things. You see, I like junk. Another person's trash is someone else's treasure. To me, these are good things. We have an old claw foot tub, actually about 4, numerous old doors and screen doors, old beds and sinks and even an old piece of farm equipment. This piece of farm equipment was actually here when we moved here and we just kept it. Here are some pictures of the garden, small to say the least. If you look closely you can see our scarecrow, which does look pretty scary right now, but really does not do the job. He is wearing an old baseball hat and an old dress shirt of my husbands. Pretty torn and tattered now.

Wow, just gave me the idea to get a closeup shot of him, ran all the way down there, yes ran (used to be my past time before I got pregnant, my form of physical exercise), to only turn the camera on, get ready to snap and the camera screen was flashing, no memory card. Oh crap, yes crap. I left it in the computer. Oh well, maybe another day I can just concentrate on Mr. Scarecrow and tell you how scary he is when the corn is high and the wind is blowing in the fall and rustling the leaves. Right out of a Children of the Corn movie. I did run all the way back, guess that is my exercise for the day.

The picture of the house was taken from the main road this morning. We are actually pretty far from it, and this is the only clearing we have in the summer that allows people to see us, and us to see them, the way we like it on the farm.

I have neglected to show you the garage inside, a little embarassed, because I have so much stuff stored in there for future use, hopefully when I get the time.

Teresa

Orange-Flavored Baby Food, What?

2009-06-17T10:59:00.004-04:00

Last night late my husband decided we needed some groceries, and we really did. I made a list, wrote down all the necessary things with strict orders to not just buy junk food. I wrote down baby food and told him and wrote down orange-colored foods in the 1st food stages. I told him carrots, sweet potatoes, squash plus get more applesauce. When we came home he had chicken baby food. I immediately let him know Aidan could not eat this yet. He replied with it is 1st foods, I said, "yes, but not just yet." I asked where the other stuff was, carrots, squash and sweet potatoes. He said he did not get any, and by the way, he could not find any orange-flavored baby food. I know he must have gotten 1 of my signature looks of "what in the world are you talking about." He said he looked and looked for orange-flavored baby food and could not find any, and thought it might be a little too strong for Aidan to eat right now. He even said the woman at Wal-Mart said there was no such thing as orange-flavored baby food. I immediately reminded him I said orange-colored baby food and told him the different kinds to get.

I can just picture this as an Amelia Bedelia moment. Not sure if you have read any of her stories, but there is 1 in particular where she is babysitting and feeding the baby food. When she makes baby food, she makes baby hamburgers and stuff that is small in size, not something the baby can actually eat. You could get the book

I know this is just another classic example of how different men and women are. This would be like sending me to a hardware store to get a specific nail or tool (well actually I could do that as I have before), but you get the picture. Men and women have a different agenda, and I guess the orange-flavored baby food would have been junk food for Aidan.

Just a thought, maybe I could get Darrell an apron and hat like Amelia Bedelia had. By the way, these are great books. Check them out on www.amazon.com, and get some.

Teresa