A Senior

Small T is a Senior in High School this year.  Last week, she had her Senior Photos taken.  Here are a few that I like.  :)  I'm so proud of her and she's such a cute girl.

Beauty

Sometimes Beauty can be found in the most unlikely places.

Sky

We've had a lot of interesting skies over the past few weeks and I've taken a few photos them.  I wish the photos would have really captured the uniqueness of the skies, but I think they did ok with getting it.  At least you can get the gist of it.  I think it's amazing to see the holes in the clouds with the sun rays pouring through.

Small T and Awan

Small T uploaded a photo to Facebook a couple of days ago.  It's of her and her cousin, Awan.  It had the following caption, "That awkward moment when your cousin is pregnant....and he's a dude."  lol  In Health class, it was the guys' turn this week to wear the pregnant belly vest.  What I like so much about this photo is how maternal Awan looks and how supportive Small T is.  Look how she's helping him hold his swollen tummy.  :)  These two are a pair anyway....but this really made me smile.  Now, if only Zanna (the third cousin that's the same age) had been there too, but she goes to a different school now.

Snow Event

We are supposed to have a 24 Hour "Snow Event" today, beginning at 6 am.

I think it started out on time, because this is what I saw this morning when I went out on the front porch.

You can't tell in the photos, but it's still "lightly snowing".

 We've got a great streets crew here in town....the roads are clear already!

 Part of my front yard.  The part where you can't see all the other houses!  lol

This is a "just because" photo.  I love the starkness of the tree branches covered in snow.

Fog

We've had a lot of fog in the mornings lately.

 The "main drag" in our small town.  I was in the grocery store parking lot.  That's why the tree is so close.

 One of the bed and breakfast inns in our town.  Eerie looking, right?  Scary movie type of thing.

Heading home down the highway, which is our "main drag".

Thursday (Thanksgiving)...

We had a lot of family at our house for Thanksgiving Dinner.  It was wonderful!

As soon as they left, the kids started in with their usual arguing and fighting.  But, this time, they were playing, for the most part.  Luckily.

 Big C hiding from Small T.  

 Big C and Small T getting some licks in, after Small T bombarded him with rolls of toliet paper.

 Medium J getting in on the act, and being walloped by Big C.  Small T is walking away after getting a few licks in herself.

 Then I was rewarded by an unexpected gift.  A package of photos that my ex-husband found.

It included my graduation photos (from high school).

I can't believe how young I looked.

I also found this great bit of black mail.

A photo that included my four younger sisters.

I've already started the black mail process.  Ha!

Thursday evening, we hit the 8 pm sale at Wal-Mart.  Big Daddy, Big C, Small T and I went.  It was Small T's first year of going shopping on Black Friday.  We got everything we went there for and spent $167.64 which was well under my allotted budget.  Here's what we got:

4 pairs of Wrangler Jeans at $9.50 each

2 pairs of Rustler Jeans at $6 each

undershirts for $8

boxers for $8

17 movies at $1.96 each

5 TV series boxed sets at $9.96 each

and four 20 ounce soda's at $1.58 each for the thirsty shoppers

Overall, we saved $107.84 on our purchases.

Job well done!  And worth the chaos!

What's Been Happening....

Here's an update of what's been happening in my neck of the woods since my last post.

 The Senior Class at school put on a great Veteran's Day Assembly.

Big C recited a poem.

 A photo from the photo shoot I did of Small T and a friend that's moving.

This is Small T.

 And this is Small T and her friend.

 Last Sunday, I sat down and made this Conehat.  It's a free pattern and can be found here http://allcraftsblogs.com/crochet_hat_patterns/cone_hat_for_all_sizes/cone_hat_for_all_sizes_pattern.html .

I used some Simply Soft yarn that I had on hand.  I do not know the color name though.  I also didn't put the tassel on the end.  Just because I didn't want to.  No other reason.

 Tuesday, the 13th, was Big C's 18th birthday.

 I couldn't believe it.  He blew out all 18 candles in one breath!  I hope he gets his wish!

 Friday, I got my hair done.

I really needed it.

 I also started the Stained Glass Afghan on Friday.

The pattern can be found here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stained-glass-afghan-2-archived .

I'm using up my scrap yarn for this project.  All of it Red Heart Super Saver.

 Friday night was "Meet the Wildcats". 

It's the opening ceremony for the High School Basketball Teams.

Small T is a cheerleader.

She's the one with her pom-pom's in the air.

 I really wish this photo had turned out.

But I think you can see the idea behind it.

Big C is the only senior boy on the basketball team.

They start out announcing the team from the lowest grade to the highest grade.

So...when it was Big C's turn....the announcer says in his best WWE announcer's voice....and the lone senior is Chance Whitney.....and Big C steps forward and raises his arms in the air....and the crowd roars!!!!!

It was soooooooo exciting! I love it!

 So, the boys divided into two teams and scrimmaged against each other for the crowd.

Big C was one the white team.

He started the game.

 Here's Big C guarding Quade.

And all four senior's participating in Basketball and Cheer.....Chelsea, Rebecca, Chance and Katie.

A man and his entourage.  LOL  Just kidding.

Sunset

Friday night's sunset while on our short road trip.

A photo just can't do it justice!

Weekly Highlights

Gosh, what a week it's been!

 I've managed to sneak in some crochet time though.  But not much.  I've started working on the squares for the True Blood Water Lily blanket again.  I did have 20 of them complete, and as of last night, my current count is 33 finished squares.  I'm thrilled.  Truly.  I'm hoping that I will only need 48 squares, but the pattern calls for 63, so we'll see.  Once I get 48 of them, I will place them all out on the floor and see how big it is.  Then I'll go from there.

 We got a new umbrella at the pool.  To cover the lifeguard stand from the direct sunlight.  It's fabulous!  Much bigger than the previous one.  Big C is posing with it, so you can get the full effect.

 Small T and Hannah, the Asst. Mgr. at the pool, made Eggless Cookie Dough one night after work.  They really needed to eat some cookie dough.  Both were either stressed or suffering from PMS.  The recipe can be found here http://baskersfunfoods.blogspot.com/2009/05/cookie-dough-for-preggies.html.  I tried it and honestly, it's great!  In fact, I had several spoons of it.

 As I've mentioned previously, Small T has obtained her driver's permit.  With that, comes several other lessons, such as learning to pump gas.  She seems eager to learn, so that's a good thing.  In fact, she was like "do you think I could pump the gas" with a big grin on her face.  :)  LOL  One day, she will hate it....like when it's pouring down rain or extremely cold and snowy.  But while she's thrilled with doing it, I'm letting her have some fun while learning at the same time.

 My first set of company this week was Baby E and her mom.  I didn't realize that we just don't have any toys around the house for a 1 year old.  We will definitely have to rectify that situation soon.  Big C did go downstairs and search through his stuff and found Trusty, his faithful beanie toy and companion from when he was little.  Trusty is about 15 years old, if I figured right.  He's currently sitting on the side table in the living room, waiting for Baby E to come back for another visit.

 We received notification that one of Small T's photos was chosen to go to the State Fair.  Big C and I lobbied hard for Small T to choose this photo as one of her three that she was entering.  And look what happened, it was chosen to be her best AND to be shown in Sedalia over the next few coming weeks.  I hope it does well there too!

 My third set of company this week arrived simply because their camper broke down between their home and my home.  They are on their way to Sturgis, SD for the big bike rally.  Big Daddy fixed the camper the next morning and off they went.  But things didn't go well, as they only made it 165 miles and then their Harley pick-up truck broke down (it was pulling the camper).  But, I'm told, that they finally made it to SD even though they were a day late.  This is one of my sister's, her husband, and two of their kids, plus Small T with her face covered up by a hand.  This was their "silly" photo.

 This photo says so many things....

First... Big C is a real man....he offered to carry our shopping bags.  What a guy!  Second...I think he was getting tired of shopping and if he carried the bags, we might hurry up some.  Third...we spent too much time in Journey's as we have more than one bag from there.  LOL

And my last photo says it all...it's been quite a week.  Big C did survive the back-to-school shopping even though he's letting Small T take this crazy photo!

The Moon and a Star

Friday night, Big Daddy came in the house and said "will your camera take photos at night?".

Well, I didn't know. So I tried it. It didn't work very well.

He wanted me to take a photo of the moon and the tiny star right beside it.

And this is what I got.

But I think you can get the general idea of what it was looking like.

Beautiful Skyline

I went out on the front porch for something last night and ended up being captivated by the night sky. Isn't it beautiful? It was all pinks and oranges mixed in with the clouds and the lowering sun. I'm wondering if we were seeing the "Northern Lights" again last night?

Road Trip Sunday - Part 3

I couldn't believe my eyes...the leaves on the trees are already changing colors! Can you see the lovely reddish colored tree in this photo?

An example of the roads we took on the way home. We chose to go the more "scenic" route.

Harvest time is here. Farmers are cutting corn.

I noticed that a new farm had been planted with pecan trees. In about 9 years, they will have their first harvest of nuts.

One of the last few old time gas stations still operating in our area. Sorry about the horrid photo! It's the best I could get while the truck was moving.