Were Did October Go?

Yes, I know it has been awhile. So what happened to October?? Much has happened this month so I will quickly update you. The big thing was that I turned the BIG "40" on the 19th. I had my first mamogram "not nearly as bad as the stories". Followed by a biopsy, on my birthday, which hurt just a bit. Results are back and everything is fine. I didn't think God would put too much more on me right now. I have painted the laundry room and retired the old washer and dryer and bought new. If you didn't know any better you would think you could climb into the thing and travel to the moon! Buzzers are always going off in the house and I can't seem to tell if it is the washer, dryer, cell phone, stove or microwave! I am trying to finish a walkway outside. Yes, another load of rocks to haul. My bruises have just grown out from under my finger nails from the last haul. To close the month down of course is trick or treating with the girls. I dressed up as cat in the hat and the girls went as thing 1 and thing 2. I have begged them to do this for the last two years and they gave in this year. Yes, they humored their old mom and I paid them off with a twenty. What's the world coming too!?
Love to all my friends and family!

Our Daily Bread!

"Give us this day our daily bread." Matthew 6:11

My newest venture... Bread making. If you know me the kitchen isn't exactly my best friend. So when the bosch mixer, and grain mill came UPS and hit my kitchen counter everyone just rolled their eyes a little. But when the 50lb bag of whole grains and gallon of honey hit the counter the girls knew I was serious.

We are staying away from all refined flour products. I am making all of our breads, pancakes, waffles, muffins, rolls etc. from fresh milled flour. The health benefits are huge! Very interesting data out there and if you are interested just email me and I will tell you all about it. I am still learning myself. The girls are loving it and hopefully I am giving them something to pass on to their children. When they complained that they had to cut the cookie dough before putting it on the pan, I knew right then that they need to know how it is really done!

Grandma Thomas would really be proud!

Love to all my friends and family!

Welcome Home Andrew!

Andrew has arrived home and survived boot camp. I knew he would. Andrew in boot camp is like a 5 year old at Disney World! He is truly in his element with the whole Army thing. I must say he has grown up quite a bit. First day home and of course there is no other option but to ski! The girls try their hand at barefooting and Andrew is riding the land lock.

I should have had a picture of Andrew in his fatigues but, I forgot to take one. Poor planning on my part.

That's all for now, seeing that I am feeling

a little fatigued tonight!

Ha! Ha!

Love to all friends and family.

The One That Got Away!

Yeah!!!! Fishing with my brother, finally! Simplicity was the name of the game this morning. We grabbed the poles and strolled down to the canoe and paddled all around Clear Lake. Sunny skies, light breeze, Tommy with his coffee and me with my green tea. Then I landed the big one! Yep, me and the bait caster were reeling in the big one! Now mind you my brother is instructing me the whole time. "Don't reel too fast, take your time." Good instructions because I did get the fish in the boat. I am holding the fish, again with instruction from my brother, "put your thumb way under his jaw, hold on tight because when he starts moving around you will loose him." So, I am holding the fish and handing him my point and shoot digital camera. I need a picture for my blog right?! Well my photographer brother seemed to think there was a problem with the camera. So, I hand him the fish and he hands me the camera and everything was fine with the camera except he wasn't pushing the button hard enough! Did I say this was a point and shoot camera? As I am figuring this all out the fish starts wiggling around in Tommy's hand, just as he had predicted, and he looses it...back into the lake went the big one. Maybe I should have given you a little instruction on how to hold that fish bro! So I guess you want to know just how big this fish was?! Well, seeing we have no proof I guess I can make it as big as I want it to be!!

Girls Just Want To Have Fun!

Sugar and spice and everything nice....so it seems on the outside but on the inside these two can manipulate the above victim AKA "DAD" to do just about anything they want.

You see the slick move above..the smiley face followed by the hug and then the peck on the cheek... these girls are good.

Melts dad like butter every time!

They sure don't have to man those moves when it comes to skiing. Dad is always ready to go. Tori learned to wakeboard and Tayler continued to kneedboard and wakeboard as well.

The ultimate fun is tubing.

Do you think cleaning your room will ever become a sport??

Love to all friends and family

One Rock at a Time!

It took three 10 hour days, two smashed fingers (one of which blood was shed), 1,000 curse words, several bruises all over my arms and legs and a lot of sweat to lay each and every one of those rocks. Maybe I should have titled this "Rocky"! Ha! Ha! Yo, Adrian!

Really it was more like 3 tons of therapy. It was just me, God, and the big back yard. I spent a lot of time reflecting on life and doing a lot of praying. I was amazed at just how all these broken pieces of rock managed to fit together to create a beautiful pathway. With all the broken pieces in my life right now...I know that God will fit them all together to create something even better than before. I just wish I knew what he was up to!!

Love to all friends and family

Back To School!

Oh the joy of that 5:00am alarm clock. That is for me anyway, the girls get an extra 30 minutes then its time, time to open those sleepy little eyes, rise with smiles on their faces and good morning hugs for mom.

Yeah right!

Tayler I must say is good at getting up. Tori on the other hand... well that's a whole different story. Today was good. I had prepared them homemade pancakes from fresh milled wheat flour, (I will share that venture with you later) along with homemade whip cream topped with fresh blueberries.

Hmm... Hmm... Good!!!

They were very excited about getting to see their friends and start the new school year. I'm excited about being on a schedule but I am not looking forward to the homework. First day and I have reviewed basic math, studied the different parts of a cell and signed about 100 papers for one reason or another. (was I suppose to read them all?!)

Love to all family and friends

Thank God For Digital

I bring to you the ocean, sand and sunsets. Our evening ritual at Anna Maria Island is to relax on the beach, feed the seagulls and wait for the sun to sink into the ocean. Thank God for digital. I would go broke trying to develope all the pictures that I took!

Did I say....

Did I say...ocean, sand and sunsets, what more could you possibly ask for?! How about a boat and a fishing pole! The girls and I decided to go out fishing for the day. Unfortunatly the girls caught zip and mom caught five. Go Mom! Tayler's idea of fishing is an airconditioned cabin, her own personal bait boy to bait her hook and inform her when he has successfully hooked a fish so she can come outside to reel it in. So I say to Tay..."You better be thinking of a good career that pays well my dear." Now my Tori is another story. She did very well managing the pole and even tried to bait her own hook. The squid was a little tough so I helped out a little. She fished the whole time and complained the whole time as well. She was a little discouraged about not catching anything but she never gave up. Her favorite part of the trip...fishing! Tayler's favorite part of the trip...jet skiing and shopping! My favorite part of the trip...being there with my girls!

Getting Started

Yikes, it is amazing how a computer can make time disappear. It is 2:00am and I am trying to figure out just how to blog. What is really bad is my daughter Tori (who is 7years old) is downstairs on her computer. She just informed me that it was 2:00 am and she is not even tired! With school starting in the next week I best start enforcing those dreaded bedtime rules once again. We are heading to Anna Maria Island for a week stay. I went every summer with my mom and the girls. My mom loved the beach. It is a trip that the girls and I look forward to every year. Ocean, sand, and sunsets...what more could you possibly ask for?!

I am hoping to keep in touch with friends and family by doing this site. I got to see my Great Niece, Clhoe (Who is oh so cute!) by reading my NJsis blogs. With technology so simple and fast it is amazing how we still don't seem to keep in touch with the ones we love. Whats up with that? Well to all my friends and family that I haven't been in touch with....know that I love you all and I think of you all often.