Thankful Thursday ~ Amazing Kids

Today I am thankful for all the amazing kids in my life. I am so blessed to know them.  

My nephew, Sam. 

My nephew, Henry.

 My Best Friend's boys, J & B.

Last but never least, my amazing Spencer.

Circle of Friends Weekend Blog Hop #7 - I am Co-Host!

I am so excited and honored to be selected for the Circle of Friends Weekend Blog Hop Co-Host. Seriously this a huge honor to me given by my amazing friends, Nicole from Daily Dish Recipes and Maria, at Flair by MariaS Handmade. Not only are they beautiful, talented woman but friends that make me smile every day.

Make sure to stop by the Hop by clicking on the button above. You will be so glad you did!

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

Sleep. Who doesn't like it? There is nothing like that feeling of climbing (or falling if it's been one of THOSE kind of days) into bed after a long day and doing that super gigantic stretch that pops bones you didn't know you had. Cuddling with your honey (spooning is one of my favorest pastimes ever), hogging all the covers and drooling on your pillow. Ahhh, sleep is good, rejuvenating and a time to shut the thinker down.

Around here though, we do things a little differently. We, well, just pass out. See below.

Here is a planned sleep.

Aren't they cute all still and quiet like that?


Here is unplanned sleep.

Who falls asleep at the dinner table? This must be standard etiquette on the planet he came from.


Is he praying? Seriously, my cooking is not that bad.

This happens after 2 days of hardcore gaming. Our friend Ramsay fits right in.

It's after 3 am here and now it's time for me to sleep. Goodnight!

Christmas 2008

I am truly hoping everyone reading this had as fabulous a Christmas as we had. This year was near perfect. Of course, I do wish my brothers could have shared the day with us, but they were in my heart that is full of other Christmas past memories.

We shared Christmas Eve with our good friends Tammy and Brian and their two boys. Tammy made homemade pizza. It was delicious!

Opening gifts. Spencer loved his new Slinky. Must have tasted good!

Note the bag Brian's gift was wrapped in. I had nothing to do with this; John is a twisted individual. **cough, cough**

Christmas Day was hosted by my sister, Tanya and her husband Rich. Going to their house is always a treat, especially when you get to spend time with family you wished you saw more often. Tanya's house is beautiful and warm and cozy. The perfect atmosphere to spend Christmas Day at.

My Dad and I.



Tanya's Corgi, Sophie.

My nephew, Sam. He not only plays electric guitar, but the sax too!

Spencer playing with Grandma and Sam.



Helping Daddy open a present.

Spencer actually took interest in his gifts this year. My family is so wonderful. Aunt Tanya got him a frog book. It's super cute.



Remember my sister Robin's wedding I stood up in this summer? Here's the happy couple.

We are such a blessed family.

Oliver

Remember this picture from about a month ago? The blog title was "Love at First Sight" and I wrote how my friend, Pam, fell in love with the pet store owner's four year old Argentine Black and White Tegu, Beast. Pam now has her own! As of last Friday, Pam is the proud owner of Oliver, who is only a few months old but already about a foot long. He is adorable and quite mellow. He does like to take flying leaps off of Pam onto the furniture though. I wish you all could hear her when he does this. Her quiet yet firm ,"NO" is the cutest and funniest thing at the same time. Like when you watch your child do something naughty, yet secretly admire them for their charisma.

Oliver...

His favorite meal so far? Cheesy hot dogs! Leave it to Pam to come up with this meal. He will eat crickets but seems to think better of himself and prefers the hot dogs and fish. Tegus eat a wide variety of foods, including fruits and live animals (rabbits, mice etc.) Pam is not sure what she will feed Oliver yet as she wants him to be kid friendly for her niece and nephew.

Nice bath tub he has there. It's hard to tell due to the his heat lamp casting a yellowish glow, but Oliver is very beautiful. His markings are wider and even prettier on his belly. I sat next to his "safe place" and watched him for quite a while. I could seriously watch him for hours and probably not care to do much else; he is that neat and interesting. He loves to be petted and talked to.

The pet store sold out of the tank Pam needs to get Oliver set up, so they loaned her a 10 gallon tank in the meantime. It is too small to provide adequate hiding spaces for Oliver which is one of the things he loves most. This funny guy crawled into Pam's cd case on the table and took a nap right in front of us! How can you not love a card like this?

Pam covered him up with a dish towel and Oliver was happy as can be...




By the way, Oliver is too young to determine his sex as of yet, so if he just "happens" to be a girl, he will be called Olivia.

Celebrating Our Independence

We had a fun filled 4th. We grilled out and enjoyed the company of friends. I even made a "themed" cake that turned out to be delicious and addicting! The cake is called The Barefoot Contessa's 4th of July cake. YUM!







Spencer looks so sad here, doesn't he? Poor guy was wondering why he had to eat dinner alone. No really, I think he was just zoning out, he was tired from playing in his pool all day.

Of course we played some Wii bowling. Pam is at Pro status and has to disguise herself to avoid the paparazzi. Here is one fan who got a little out of control!

Later we saw him near the kitchen counter feeling pretty proud of himself for the sneak attack.

Here is Pam vowing no more autographs for the night!

Ramsay is such an excellent bowler, we at times resort to distractions or outright fouls to try to throw him off.

That smirk is due to the fact that even though I walloped him in the head with a pillow in the middle of his shot, he still got a strike!

We got to meet Pam's brother Chris. Chris is just as awesome as Pam and we can't wait to hang out more with him. No doubt these two are related. Very strong resemblance to each other. The look on Pam's face is a priceless as she watches her brother play air guitar.

John was behind the camera most of the night. I think the digital rays or camera moonbeams took their toll on him. I just hope his face doesn't stay like this.

A Lesson in Drunk Driving

**WARNING** You may find the pictures below disturbing. While not gory, they are certainly not pretty. Imagine someone you care about, love even, being in an accident like this and what the result would be.

These are the pictures of Pam’s best friend and her brother’s car accident. This accident was caused by the fact that Naomi, the driver, had far more than the legal blood alcohol content in her bloodstream. Add in an argument and you have a lethal combination…

Think on this for a moment, if you will. The different emotions this may bring to your train of thought right now. Sympathy, anger, exasperation perhaps? Are you pointing your finger at Naomi for her foolishness, her carelessness? I think that if she were conscious right now instead of in a hospital bed fighting for her life, she may feel the same. I think the people with her that night will be riddled with guilt for a very long time on how THEY could have prevented this, if only…

Here is a lesson for all of us to learn from. While there may be those of us that feel we have the right to judge Naomi and point our fingers at her in disgust, I feel we should reserve our judgement, as hard as it may be, and pray for her instead. Swallow our harsh words and instead use this as a wake up call. If not for you, then possibly someone you know.

Drinking and driving is so easily avoided and so foolishly done by many people. People who think they are in control but are in fact in control of nothing. In an instant, you can change so many people’s lives. Cause so much heartache and grief. Take away someone’s sunshine or destroy a once whole and happy family.

This post may hit home harder for some than others. Faith, is on my mind when I say this.

I guess what I am trying to say here is this. We all are in control and the bosses of our own selves. What we choose or choose not to do at any given moment, depends on us and us alone. While our reaction may be based on what others have said or done around us, we still make the decisions on what our reactions will be. Naomi chose to drink and drive and the harsh reality is she may lose her life as she has known it for that decision. While it would be so much easier to judge her for this, I choose to instead learn from it and hope beyond hope she will too. I want to put my positive energy towards her recovery and the mental recovery of those who think they could have stopped her. My heart goes out to all of them…

Prayers Appreciated

For those of you that pray, please say a prayer for Pam and her family. Pam's brother and his girlfriend (who is also Pam's best friend), were in a terrible car accident earlier this week. Pam's brother is recovering and has been released from the hospital, her friend, however, is not fairing as well. She has some head trauma and is not functional enough to know how severely she was injured. She has a long recovery ahead of her. She also has a young daughter that could use some prayers. I am hoping Pam won't mind I posted this, but I firmly believe in the power of prayer and know every one can help. Their names are Chris and Naomi.

Properly Identifying Your Weenus

I have decided to take on a task of great importance. Now that we all know what a weenus is and that most of us have two of them, I feel it is pertinent to know the type or "style" of weenus God gave us. I imagine there are a gazillion different types of weeni out there and while I will never identify them all, I must try to do what good I can and educate people before it is too late!

I have collected and documented a few specimens below. Please check to see if your weeni match any of the examples. If so, then great! If not, feel free to send my pictures of your weeni or weenuses and I will post and identify them for you. I will remove all names during posting to of course, protect the innocent.




Sun-bleached weenus. This weenus has been abused by an afternoon of sun and becomes bleached when given attention. This is very bad for your weenus and can result in permanent scarring.


Saggy bottom weenus. This weenus has clearly seen better days. Proper care and attention has not been given to this weenus in many moons.


Wouldn't you like to be a weenus too, weenus. This weenus is fit and supple. This weenus is the apple of it's owner's eye.


Muscular weenus. An ideal picture of a weenus in top form. This is one happy weenus!



An example of a weenus in it's natural state. Most of us cannot see ours, so I thought this guy with the pipes would be a good working model.
Yes, I am very tired tonight and have no idea what I will be when I grow up!

Love at First Sight

For those of you that think my frog is an odd or exotic pet, check out the cute fuzzy pet below. After we took Xander out of his cage, we walked around the pet store a bit as the owners were busy with other customers. A door that is normally closed was opened and Pam saw LARGE reptiles. We first looked at an 8 foot boa that looked quite hungry. By that time the owner was back and told us to turn around and check out the guy behind us. Well, that was it for Pam. She oohed, aahed and fanned herself as the owner took the lizard out of it's cage.

This is an Argentine black and white Tegu. It looks ferocious but is actually a very nice pet. This is a male and about five years old, with some more growing to do. Pam and I looked them up online when we got home and discovered they are quite easy to raise (for a lizard) and very tameable. He was friendly and allowed Pam to pick him up with no qualms.

So I get to be a lizard aunt sometime in the near future. Can't bring Pam anywhere!


What would you do if you saw your neighbor taking this for a walk?

Wii Bowling

Have you played Wii? If not, you should! I am not normally a fan of console games at all. In fact, I have no idea what draws so many people to hours of sitting in one spot shooting people or jumping on mushrooms with all that annoying music in the background. Not for me. Wii is in it's own category and is so much fun! My favorite so far is the bowling. My nephew has a summer games one with horseshoes that I would like to try too. Anywho, Wii steps up gaming with the whole idea of interacting on almost a "real" level. You need to go through the motions, aim, follow through etc. in order to be successful. You can really get a workout and not even realize it because of how enjoyable the games are. It also appeals to many age groups at one time. I have a large picture window in my living room. I can only imagine what the neighbors across the street think when they see us playing. The Wii remotes are small and would probably not be noticed from a distance, so imagine looking over at your neighbor's and seeing people jumping and gliding across the living room floor for what looks like no reason. That's hours of entertain there. I have always wondered why I get odd looks when I am outside! Just kidding. Here's a few pictures from Sunday night's bowling competition.

Spencer is our cheerleader. Here he is about a foot off the ground jumping up and cheering the whole time!

Here is another one of him in mid flight.

We let him have a turn so he wouldn't feel left out.

Pam and Ramsay are debating if he is using cheat codes. HA!

He loved it!

We have the greatest friends. Never a complaint that Spencer is jumping up and down in front of the tv while we play. In fact, Pam held Spencer for a few of her turns. No wonder he loves her! She is such a good player, she got strikes while holding him.

Here is a look at our scores. Pam kicked our butts! Aren't our characters funny?!