childhood memories #4

so we don’t have school again today. so we are watching PBS and that means watching Barney and the rip off of Blue’s Clues, Super Why!  Of course im not excited about watching PBS, but that’s all that’s on!!  and of course watching Super Why makes me reminisce about sitting and watching endless hours of Blue’s Clues. I love watching Barney and I miss watching the quality TV that used to be on. TV now is not as it used to be when I was little.

I love Barney and Blue’s Clues. not this Joe version, the Steve episodes. those are the best!!!  but of course the time has come and gone for us to watch those episodes and the rotation as ended for those episodes. now we have to watch the other STUFF that’s on now.

o well. my childhood is over now… time for hannah and spencer to enjoy their childhood.

sewing project #3

this is my newest sewing project. i started and finished it in the past two days. i did most of it myself, with the exception of the gathering. my mom gathered and pinned the skirt graciously. (thanks mom!) other than that i did everything else by myself. i put the side zipper, the pockets, the hook and eye and the hem in by myself. the pattern is roses, with brown centers. it doesn't look like it the picture, but its pink.

i am super excited about it. i just have to figure out what to wear it with. find a pink shirt to match? or find brown leggings and wear it with a brown shirt? or just wear it with a white shirt?? these are my questions. but im excited about it none the less. another sewing project that i did all by myself with a little help from my mom.

im super excited about the fact that i did the zipper once and it worked with a minor adjustment at the top. first timers luck my mom says. or maybe its just the way that the pattern had you put the zipper in. i don't know.

snow!

so it snowed. again. for like the bajillionth time in the last month. we got out of school yesterday because there was four inches of snow on the ground, and today for the fear of icy secondary roads as well as a new layer of powder on top of yesterdays snow. i was soo excited. sleeping in and being able to bundle up warm while drinking some hot chocolate was amazing! i also got the chance to start and complete a sewing project. i am so excited about it!! (pics to come) we still dont have snow things for me to go out and play in, so i sat inside with my mom and sewed. i know i know, what a bum. but i really didnt have a whole lot of choices.

we just found out that we are having school tomorrow and im excited and sad. excited because i can see all my friends and have something to do again. sad because i want to try and find some more fabric to make something else. maybe cross something off the "i need for college" list. i guess that is just going to have to wait until another day becomes clear.

prince charming and his various princesses

throughout time, prince charming has been the hero in countless princess stories. he comes riding in on his magnificient and gorgeous horse, saves the day, and then the once distraught girl and her true love ride off into the sunset. recently i have been talking to a certain young man, and he has recently been sending me off to bed with a "good night princess" and "sweet dreams". isnt that adorable!? he is so kind and he really seems to understand me, and he compliments me even when he cant see me. he tells me im beautiful even when he knows that im wearing a sweatshirt and jeans. how sweet!

one day when i first started talking to him (via text, its cheaper that way) he made a comment about "the one"... saying something about how if there really is a girl out there for him, who is she?, do i know her?, do i see her everyday but just look right over her and not notice her? i thought that it was very thought provoking.

is there a person that really will complete you?
does it happen spontaneously like it does in Snow White, Aladdin, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid?
or does it take time like it does in Beauty and the Beast?
is there a catharsis?
or does it just suddenly click?
are there really sparks?
is there anything about the love stories you read about in books true?
can the first one you fall in love with be the only one?

just some curious questions that i have for myself... thought id ask you guys for advice to these questions...

the real answer for me wont come until im much older and happily married. until then they are just sitting there in the back of my mind waiting for answers.

christmas and the new year

christmas was a success and a fairly small ordeal this year. my parents have been budgetting for the house so the gifts were small but homemade. the only really super big gifts given this year were the trampoline that my grandparents "bought" for us (they sent us a check and we bought it with the deposit) and my dad's router that santa got for him. the family got like 6 new movies (3 of them that we watched before lunch time!), two new games and then of course the trampoline. i got some new gloves, some waterproof playing cards (ive been asking for them for like ever!), the first three Percy Jackson books (rachel got the last two), a new wallet, a handy case for my Walkman, a rifle for colorguard (im soo excited!!!), and then an umbrella. but the umbrella has a story:

opened my gift from santa and was excited, my OWN umbrella, but then i was prompted to open the umbrella upside down. turned out that santa made it rain money! in between each individual prong, was a five dollar bill. so if you counted thats five prongs, so ten bills x five bucks = $50!! yep, i was allowed 50 dollars to go and spend on clothes that were badlly wanted and needed, mind you. monday i went and shopped the after christmas sales with rachel and i purchased a waist belt, a flowly sweater, and two new pairs of jeans (thank you old navy and jcpenney's!!) after our excursion, i then went to oldnavy.com and spent an addition 30 dollars on some fashionable scarves that were not in the store. they arrived thursday afternoon which is impressive seeing how i got the cheapest shipping (5-7 days). rachel was a little upset because she ordered a dress from downeastbasics.com on christmas that took until friday to show up. she was a little mad when i showed her my scarves to say the least. hahaha :)


the new year has been good to me so far. i spent the count down to the new year talking to my friend-boy that i would really like to be my boyfriend but there are age requirements on my side that prohibit that until my 16th birthday. haha cant wait for that! im only 6 months away from it! the old year was not exactly. the day before new years eve i was supposed to babysit this adorable little girl from the neighborhood while her parents went to a bowl game in nashville. unfortunately i got sick an hour before the job started and was forced to pass it to my sister. ugh i was soo not happy about doing that. but i didnt want to take the chance of getting her sick as well. luckily after a long, needed nap i felt better and was able to help in laying the hardwood in kitchen addition.

thats right! you heard me right!! the boxes that have been stacked in the living room for about a year, have finally been ripped open and the glue/sealant has been bought and both have been ripped into as we have started applying hardwood to the entire downstairs. as of the moment we have successfully floored the kitchen and family room and have crossed our way into the entry way and our small hall closet. we are down to the bottom of our fifth! (yes 5th!!) 5-gallon bucket of sealant/glue and are going to have to scrap to finish whats left of the hallway. needless to say, my father will be purchasing about three more buckets at lumber liquidators in the next couple of days. we still have about 15 boxes left of hardwood to use in the dining and living rooms that my dad thinks we wont need. we will just see how far they get us. it officially looks like we are moving if you are to look in through the downstairs windows, and taking everything with us. we have evacuated every piece of furniture, accessories, and more into the garage, fruit room, mud room, and shop as possible in order to make the rooms scarce and easy to empty when we shift rooms. needless to say, the house is an udder pig stye as me, my mom and dad, and rachel work our tails off to finish as much as possible before my dad goes back to work tomorrow. but unfortunately, that wont work seeing how we are down to the bottom of the glue. we will have to resume work tomorrow.

in the mean time, im getting ready for school! i cant believe im saying this, but im getting tired of the break! all the house work and the mindless hours of sitting down doing nothing are killing me and i cant wait to have something productive and educational to do. that is my life!! as you can imagine with all the house work, my social life has been paused in order to help, so i cant wait to see all my friends again. yipee!!


umm new years resolutions.. earn so mula! be more loving and helpful; make a list of things i will need for college and work on the little things (sheets, a quilt, a scrapbook of memories, my own clothes [none of the sharing business anymore], a cookbook, and things like that); get another honor bee (i had my interview yesterday and im getting it presented next week! im ecstatic! i finished the book of mormon on friday); and maybe build up a library of books for the college life. who knows its all news to me!

thursday begins the new semester for school and i will go into honors chemistry, lifetime wellness, accounting one, and concert band. wellness is like health and gym combined, so its pretty much a joke. and chemistry is going to be interesting, but seeing how i had algebra two last semester its supposed to be easier. (hopefully!!!)

family pictures

family pictures are always stressful, but add a couple of kids, and then you have mayhem. thank goodness this time wasnt like the last couple of times we have been to Portrait Innovations.

the guy who took our photos was really good. he had some visions for us and then he was quick in executing them. it was very nice. and he learned all our names. it was awesome!! here are some of the pictures we took...



this was pose one. unfortunately this is the best exposure,
and it has the most people looking at the camera.



this is pose two for the family. this is on the christmas card.

 

this is also on the christmas card. it is pose three for the family.



this is pose four for the family. i like this pose,
but it also accentuates that we have a large family.

this is not how this pose is supposed to look like.
and my mom is totally oblivious to the tongue.



this is how its supposed to look. gorgeous. :)

this is rachels individual. i like it

i really really like this pose and this picture.
possible the best picture ive taken in a long time.

this is a twin shot. i think it turned out awesome too!

this is the picture julie choose she liked the best.

we did a full body, but it didnt look right...

this is russells awesome picture.

i think i like this one better than the full body.

i like this picture of him too.

but not as much as his other one.

christians best shot.

he doesnt know how to smile without looking pained.

hannahs gorgeous little picture.

little miss attitude.

spencers mountonous dimples.

how adorable!!

i like this pose too... its a tie for spencer.

twin shot #2

how cute!!

 

this is the kids best pose.

we had one where we are spaced out more, but its too spaced.

that concludes our photo shoot. the photographer got us in and out of the studio in an hour and a half which is impressive considering our size..

Merry Christmas to All!!

the heartbreak of love.

**CAUTION! DO NOT READ THIS IN PUBLIC. IT WILL MOST LIKELY MAKE YOU CRY**


read this story and then tell me that it doesnt tug at your heart:

With Love, Sabrina Parker and Matt Scozzari Face a Deadly Diagnosis

i thought it was gorgeous. they had a video on Yahoo! a couple of days ago, and it was heart wrenching. i think what Matt did was so precious and what a true husband would have done. what a shame they couldnt marry Sabrina. well i guess there is alway eternity.

freezing and getting into the christmas spirit

well seeing how we are drawing ever closer to Christmas, our gas decided to leak, making the house a chilly 66 degrees making it very difficult to stay warm. our gas guy has still to come by and turn the gas back on after the heating and air guys came and fixed it. so we are compromising until the heat comes back on by wrapping up in warm jammies and fantastically warm blankets.

of course i would rather be comfortable in the clothes i have on without a blanket, but the blanket and the cold makes it easier to get into the Christmas spirit. thanks so much to Grooveshark, i can access all the Christmas carols and songs i want to, all by a couple of clicks. of course all this scene needs is some hot chocolate and we would have a perfect Christmas image, but unfortunately, im too lazy to make myself some. hahahaha  i would of course love to be snuggled up to a special someone, but he knows who he is, so i wont mention names. ;)

merry christmas to all, and i hope you all have the best one yet in just 8 days!! yipee!!

childhood memories two

recently i had the oppurtunity to feel like a child again. receiving letters in the mail has always been a thrill through elementary school and even now into high school. sending letters has its lags but its so much fun! writing thoughts and having a hard copy of that letter. even when you have to take some time to write down your thoughts. its sooo much fun!!

childhood memories three and SNOW

memory three is riding in the car and being scared to death of never making it home. that was last night. tennessee got a little bit of snow and unfortunately a lot of people in this town DONT know how to drive in snow. thus making this town VERY DANGEROUS to drive around in especially when the roads are dry underneath the snow. fortunately for us, the road was warmer than the snow when it started to snow, so the road had to cool down. by yesterday afternoon, the road was wet, but the snow was beginning to stick. yippee!! by about 730, the snow was sticking to the road by the inches. thank goodness dad had put new tires on the subarban earlier in the weekend and that the focus has front wheel drive. the snow plows had been around to some of the scarier back roads and had salted and cleared those roads. kingston pike had had some heavy traffic that day, so it was relatively safe and clear of snow.

we took the road about way to get home because we thought it would be the safest way, but unfortunately it probably wasnt. when we drove by our normal entrance to loop, they had salted and cleared the snow from that hill. we decided to go around though. it was too late. we went on a road that was almost as bad as loop road at the beginning. it was whindy and very scary. a car had STOPPED in front of an entrance making it very hard for mom to make it over that hill. mom almost skidded, but thank goodness made it over. we passed by an accident because they had skidded and nosedived into a roadside ditch. soo nerve racking. we finally made it to the home stretch but the scariest hill and corner were around the bend. we made it around the scariest turn- a completely BLIND turn- and into our neighborhood. we pulled over and put the  suburban into four-wheel drive (with the help of my father, NOT THE OWNERS MANUAL!!) and made it up the treacherous hill safely.

thank goodness.

our home teacher was going to be valiant and come and see us, but abandoned mission about half way here. decided it was too dangerous. but we did end up having a visitor. a friend from church came and gave us cinnamon rolls for helping them move. they have jsut moved here from utah, so he showed up in shorts, flip flops, and a tshirt!! (keep in mind that its like literally 3 degrees outside.) he had walked up our huge hill because his wife didnt want to drive up it (smart woman). we watched him literally shoe ski down the hill. it was great. hahaha but not entirely safe....