the Matthews family

Teacher Lola

2011-12-29T12:01:00.000-05:00

Aunt Cindy made Lola a "Teacher Kit" for one of her Christmas presents. She spent hours last night teaching her babies. The big ones were in one classroom, because they are older, and the little ones were in a different class room. She was a busy teacher.

She did have to get on to one of her students because they showed up to school with no clothes on. When she sent her home (to the couch) to do her homework she told her when she came back she needed to be dressed.

Thank you Aunt Cindy!

Happy Holiday 2011

2011-12-27T21:06:00.003-05:00

CHRISTMAS EVE

Shane got Mer-Ken as his Dirty Santa Gift! HAHAHAHA

Lola was torn between the Ken doll and a super sparkly water bottle. She made a good choice because Shane ended up giving her the Ken when it was all said and done. Well played Lola, well played.

Chas selecting his gift....what's it going to be???

SOCKS - YIPPEE!

Shane got a consolation prize of socks too.

Sam and Sophie traded and both were happy. Sam got a doggie printed fleece blanket and Soph got 2 pairs of fuzzy slipper socks.

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Soph got several xBox games.

(Good for Mommy - I was getting bored with the ones we already had!)

Lola opening her gifts.

Oh my! She got the Red Ryder BB Gun she hoped for!

Never in a million years would I think that I would let my child have a gun...let alone my 7 year old daughter!

at Nana & Poppy's house for more presents

Sophie got lots of cute clothes!

Lola wanted a BOY baby doll. Not as easy to find as you would expect. She ended up with 3 baby dolls all together...2 of which were boys.

Our bookworm and her new Kindle.

Sophie got Poppy to put on her new Panda hat from Justice.

Lola couldn't wait to go outside and try out her new gun. GOOD NEWS - She DIDN'T shoot her eye out!

Lola got a Zombie Lab. Its a disgusting looking laboratory where you can make edible items such as brains, bugs, snot and barf. YUMMY!

Tonight we made the brains and some bugs. They were kinda neat looking but not yummy by any means.

I got a super cute Owl Clock from Tommye. I love it. It has a pendulum....very neat.

4th Grade Christmas Program

2011-12-19T20:25:00.000-05:00

OCD Maid

2011-12-05T20:14:00.000-05:00

During my last hotel stay, I left the vanity a mess with all my stuff spread about. When I came back at the end of the day the maid had been in to clean and had fancifully arranged my belongings.

Hello Kitty!

2011-12-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

After the Rockport Parade we rushed over to Macy's in Owensboro to meet the one and only Hello Kitty. We made it just in time! She was a very pretty kitty!

Breakfast with Santa and Rockport Christmas Parade

2011-12-03T14:13:00.000-05:00

Holiday Decorations

2011-11-25T14:08:00.000-05:00

My mom made this ceramic tree. I have always LOVED it!

The card holder my Mammaw made in 1969. Lucky for me, she dated everything.

The quilt stocking I made from an old quilt of my Dad's grandmas. The big stocking in the middle is one I remember always hanging up for decoration at Mammaw and Pappaw's house when I was little.

The Many Hats of Maw

2011-11-24T14:02:00.000-05:00

On Thanksgiving the great grandkids were each getting to pick out a hat of Maw's to have. I thought it would make a great photo for all the ladies to wear one of Maw's hats.

Lola's Newest Obsession

2011-11-20T21:57:00.000-05:00

Lola had $30 dollars left from her $40 she got for her good grades. (She spent the first 10 on feathers for her hair...she learned that they were kind of a waste of money.) So the last 30 was spent buying her own guitar. She has had in in her hands since it came out of the box. We finally got it tuned today. I caught her in the pictures below singing a Justin Beiber song and playing along.

Lola's Sleepover

2011-11-19T22:53:00.000-05:00

Big sister Sophie had a sleepover a couple of weekends ago so now it was Lola's turn. She invited Arabella, Kiley, and Kaitlyn. They painted some t-shirts, ate junk food, listened to music, played xbox, danced, played dolls, played Barbies, and watched a movie. Then in the morning we had BLUE pancakes. We have had purple pancakes a couple of times over the past few weeks so Lola wanted to change it up a bit.

Pioneer Fort

2011-11-08T08:31:00.000-05:00

Sophie and Daddy (mainly Daddy) worked hard on her 4th grade Social Studies Project - building a Pioneer Fort.

Sophie's Sleepover

2011-11-05T23:55:00.000-04:00

I have promised Sophie for a while that she could have a sleepover with her girlfriends. She invited 5 girls from her class. It was a LOOOOONG night of singing, dancing and screaming. I think everyone had a great time though.

Tons of Snacks

They all got to paint purple t-shirts.

Then everyone painted each others nails purple.

Then we had prom night. The girls all dressed up in Sophie's dresses and did each others make-up. First was the fashion show then the dancing.

Yes, they were dancing on my coffee table.

I guess dancing to the ipod wasn't enough so then they played Dance Central on the xbox Kinect.

They FINALLY fell asleep watching Glee.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T22:51:00.000-04:00

Sophie as Dead Shirley Temple

Lola as Bat Ballerina

Halloween at the Courthouse

2011-10-31T22:40:00.000-04:00

Halloween at the Courthouse is always fun. Rockport Elementary and St. Bernard schools Trick-or-Treat along Main Street and we get to hand out candy and pencils. I didn't get pictures of Kim and I but we dressed up as well. I was a ceiling fan (I had pom-poms and a shirt that said "Go Ceiling!") and Kim was a split pea (she had a green shirt with the letter "P" on it and it was cut down the middle.)

The girls from the Sheriff's office we rockin' out the 80's.

The Extension Office all dressed up.

Policewoman Molly

Heather the Clown

Emma and Shayla as Bumblebees

Avery as Princess Peach

Purple Pancakes Anyone?

2011-10-30T22:36:00.000-04:00

The girls wanted pancakes for supper. But not just any pancakes.....purple pancakes. They sure don't look that appetizing but they were delicious.

Lola at Pump It Up Party

2011-10-29T23:35:00.000-04:00

Lola was invited to her friend Brenn's 8th birthday party at Pump It Up. She had such a good time. She even talked Mommy into going down the slide with her a couple of times.

Halloween Party at Daymar Collage

2011-10-28T23:15:00.000-04:00

Cindy invited us the the Halloween Party at Daymar College, where she works. The girls had a blast. Lola even won a cake at the cake walk. In case you can't tell, Lola is a bat ballerina and Sophie is dead Shirley Temple. She came up with that all on her own. She thought Shirley Temple would be a good fit but that just wasn't scary enough for Halloween so she added the dead part. She is so funny.

Cindy saw a version of this game online and asked me to help her make it. You have to stick the organs on the Zombie. I painted the large Zombie outline and she printed some organs out. We stuck the organs to some felt, added some velcro and we had our game.

I made Lola's bat mask out of some pink fleece I had leftover from another project. She loved it.

Sophie's newest Accessory

2011-10-22T22:05:00.000-04:00

Sophie wanted me to take a pic of her with her new feather in her hair. It doesn't show up very well in these pictures though. She bought it with her own money that she earned with her excellent grades. Straight A's. We are so proud of her.

Lola as a Halloween Rockstar

2011-10-22T22:01:00.000-04:00

Lola's cousin had a birthday party at Club Tabby this weekend. Lola went for the Halloween Rockstar look. She even got to bring home her bright red lipstick! Yay! Nana and Sophie picked her up from the party when it was over and they all went out to eat. Lola loved going into O'Charley's all dolled up!

Sophie's Tin Grin

2011-09-20T21:58:00.000-04:00

Sophie got the first part of her braces on today. It was very trying but we finally got them on! I can't believe how old she is getting!

Fun with Lola's Hair

2011-08-18T22:55:00.000-04:00

We had fun with Lola's hair tonight. She wanted it to look curly for school the next day. So we experimented with tiny braids. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of what it looked like in the morning. It turned out pretty cute, very 80's.

Class of 96 - 15 year Reunion - McKenzie's Pub

2011-08-13T21:05:00.000-04:00

First Day of School - 4th & 2nd Grades

2011-08-11T22:51:00.000-04:00

Holiday World 2011

2011-07-14T22:02:00.000-04:00

I didn't take my camera with us to Holiday World this year. But I did manage to snap a couple of Santa photos with my phone.

4-H 2011

2011-06-26T21:58:00.000-04:00

Lola grew some flowers.

Lola built a squirrel picnic cafe with Poppy.

Sophie got a blue ribbon on her scrapbook.

Sophie helped Nana grow some basil.

Sophie and I sewed a drawstring bag. She got a Champion ribbon.

Gatlinburg Vacation

2011-06-12T21:47:00.000-04:00

Brian and I took a vacation to Gatlinburg, TN. We stayed at a cabin called the Hanky Panky. hehehe We didn't actually see a bear during our stay but during our first night we did have a sort of bear encounter. There were bear tracks when we got up in the morning all over our deck. I don't have pictures of all of our adventures. But we got to ride on the ski lift and even went zip-lining.

Library Carnival - Sophie and the Whip Guy

2011-06-08T21:38:00.000-04:00

There was a carnival at the Spencer County Public Library. Sophie got called up to do a demonstration with the Whip Guy.

Dance 2011

2011-06-05T20:01:00.000-04:00

Soph and her Friends on the next to last day of school

2011-05-23T15:00:00.001-04:00

End of School Awards Day at Luce

2011-05-23T14:00:00.002-04:00

Lola got the National Fitness Award. There were only 6 boys and 3 girls in all of 1st grade that got that award. She was very excited. Sophie got an award for making it into the spelling bee and for meeting her AR goal every 9 weeks. She was pretty pumped as well.

Mrs. Hermann's End of School Year Present

2011-05-23T07:30:00.000-04:00

I made some pencil holders for the girls teachers to put on their desks at school. Well the girls also LOVE Mrs. Hermann the principal and wanted to give something to her too. This is what we came up with. The girls were facing the sun so they wouldn't look up at me for the picture but hopefully you can see the gift. It is a piece of foam board and I drew lines on it to make it look like a sheet of notebook paper then the girls wrote their note....filled in with candy.

Pioneer Day at Lincoln Pioneer Village

2011-05-21T12:00:00.000-04:00

Easter

2011-04-24T21:55:00.004-04:00

Grandparents Day at Luce Elementary

2011-04-22T19:55:00.006-04:00

Our girls are lucky to have so many wonderful grandparents!

South Spencer U8 Lady Rebels Softball

2011-04-21T18:12:00.002-04:00

The girls have really enjoyed softball this year. They both have made such major improvements too! It is such a good time...I am glad I decided to help Jenna coach the team.....its fun being with my girls out there!

Sophie can FINALLY ride a bicycle!

2011-04-10T18:06:00.001-04:00

Lola has been riding her bike without training wheels since she was 5. Soph, however, is a different story....while she felt she was too big for training wheels she refused to ride a bike. She would pedal super super super slow and couldn't figure out why she wasn't staying up. Well, she finally did it! She decided it wasn't fun being the only one that couldn't ride so she just got up there and pedaled away! Whew!

Sophie's 9th Birthday Party

2011-03-22T17:29:00.001-04:00

Dr. Suess Day at Luce Elementary

2011-03-16T17:27:00.000-04:00

The girls dressed up as Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Dr. Suess day at Luce.

Lola's 7th Birthday

2011-02-26T17:00:00.000-05:00

Basketball is Tiring

2011-02-17T14:47:00.000-05:00

Luce Elementary Spelling Bee

2011-01-05T17:22:00.000-05:00

Sophie made it into the Spelling Bee at Luce. It is 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. She practiced hard.

Halloween Block Giveaway

2010-09-09T13:08:00.003-04:00

Tatertots and Jello - a craft blog I follow are giving away this awesome Halloween block kit. I so want to win this. One, its better than getting a pre-made item, I can say I made it myself. Two, since I don't have a Cricut or Silouette machine the making of the letters/numbers would be impossible for me. They have already cut those out and they are ready for applying - super easy but looks nice and neat.

Check out their blog here.

Lola's Bowling Birthday Party

2010-08-28T00:07:00.002-04:00

Avery hoping for a STRIKE!

Lola loved the hand dryers.

Sophie is a surprising good bowler.

Lola with her cupake cones....they turned out okay....not sure if I would do them again though.

Avery loved the lip gloss. Doesn't she look beautiful?

Grandparents Day at Rockport Elementary

2010-04-13T16:49:00.000-04:00

Sophie's Birthday Flowers from Daddy

2010-03-22T20:00:00.000-04:00

Hat Day at Luce

2010-03-22T17:42:00.000-04:00

Soph's B-Day Party at ChuckECheese

2010-03-22T17:39:00.000-04:00

2010-03-14T17:35:00.000-04:00

The Cat Whisperer

2010-02-21T23:36:00.001-05:00

Although it may not look like it from this picture - we call Lola the Cat-Whisperer. She certainly has a way with cats, they follow her around like she's a Disney princess.

Would you LOVE to have a lollipop?

2010-02-14T23:41:00.002-05:00

The only bad thing about the girls' valentine's this year is that I have no idea what we can do next year that will be any cuter than this! Super simple and easy to do - I just took a picture of each girl - I had them stand in front of some red curtains - told them to hold their hand out toward me like they were interviewing me with a microphone - and snap! Then I used Photoshop to add Happy Valentine's Day along with their name and the year and printed out enough copies for their classmates. (I bought really cheap photo paper at the dollar store - I did have to cut out the pictures but it was way cheaper than buying the Canon 4x6 photo paper.) Next I just used a steak knife and with the photo on a cutting board, I cut a small slit at the top and bottom of their hands. Pop the sucker in through the holes (plus, I added a piece of scotch tape to back, mainly for during transit in the backpacks and to the classroom) and Voila! - you have the cutest Valentine's ever! They were a HUGE hit with the girls' friends at school.

Snow

2010-02-07T23:16:00.000-05:00

Puppet Show....or at least building the set, then getting over it

2010-01-23T00:29:00.002-05:00

Thanking God for the Pretty Flowers

2010-01-04T00:21:00.000-05:00

Spring School Pictures

2010-01-01T21:16:00.000-05:00

This is from the first half of Sophie's 2nd grade school year and Lola's Kindergarten.

We received these in the mail after moving to Rockport. The girls enjoyed seeing a picture of all the classmates they just left behind...although, it was a little sad too.

Library Day with Maw

2009-12-29T21:11:00.000-05:00

Ho-Ho-Holidays

2009-12-25T21:43:00.000-05:00

Making the Holidays Sweeter

2009-12-23T19:09:00.000-05:00

The girls were not really interested in helping me make the holiday candy. Which was fine with me since it ends up being more of a chore and a mess with all the extra little hands. However, Lola was intrigued when she heard the banging start and had to come investigate. Next thing I know I had a little girls VERY eager to help. She really enjoyed "crushing" the candy canes for mommy. I just hope she wasn't picturing Sophie while she was banging away.

Yes...that is a Mr. Hanky in the midst of the gingerbread men and bears.

These are the Christmas ornaments I made for everyone this year. They are old wooden spools that I painted then stamped names onto. Then they were strung with twine and I added some strips of material for decoration.

The Great Present Race

2009-12-18T18:43:00.002-05:00

I was in charge of Lola's Class Holiday Party. The game I decided to do was an unwrapping relay race. The kids were divided into teams and raced across the gym. They had to unwrap a present, pull out the beaded necklace that was inside and wear it, then throw away the paper and race back to their teammate and tag them.
They had a blast...unfortunately I didn't get very many good pics of the race due to the chaos. The rest of the pics are from the rest of the party, which also happened to be the girls last day at Durbin. Lola was very sad to leave her best friend Ellie.

Lola and her BFF Ellie

Ellie Lola and Avidon (he was in love with Lola)

Lola and Miss Pinkus

Santa on the Square

2009-12-15T21:15:00.000-05:00

I decided to take the girls to the square in downtown Noblesville to try and take a picture for a holiday card. When we parked we noticed a few people standing outside of the cottage. Guess who was inside....SANTA!!!! The girls were so excited. Sophie asked for the book, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Dog Days" and Lola asked for a pink Nintendo DS.

You may be wondering why you never got a holiday card from us. No, you weren't left off of our list. I never got around to actually making the cards. I did get some wonderful pictures of the girls though.

Durbin Breakfast with Santa

2009-12-12T21:39:00.000-05:00

The girls got to meet Santa...again. This time at the Durbin breakfast. We enjoyed pancakes then the girls got to go from table to table to table to make Christmas crafts.

They made frames to hold their pictures with Santa.

Lola and Mommy Time

2009-12-01T20:10:00.001-05:00

Lola and Mommy got to decorate her gingerbread girl to be hung up in her classroom at school. We could use anything but markers, pens, pencils or crayons. We ended up using Pez, coffee filters, whole coffee beans, green sugar, spaghetti, macaroni, poof balls, sequins, red twine, yarn and of course a drink umbrella.

We decided to have fun one morning and roll Lola's hair in curlers before school.
Super Cute!

Matthews Thanksgiving 2010

2009-11-30T19:48:00.000-05:00

Lola made the table decorations and place cards.

Cody Kyley and Leah

Avery Eme and Soph

Sophie took a picture of Nana

Kyley with Uncle Brice and Aunt Cascie

Kyley and Eme playing together

Nana and Sophirella

Nana and Lolabug

Lola loves Maw's hands

Brian and Paw

Family Thanksgiving Hands for Lola's Class

2009-11-12T16:10:00.000-05:00

Lola came home from Kindergarten with brown and yellow paper. It was a family project. Each member had to trace, cut-out and decorate their own hand. The we were supposed to connect them all together to hang in Lola's classroom. (I have to admit Brian's is my favorite.)

Sleeping Lola

2009-11-11T16:08:00.001-05:00

Lola fell asleep in our bed with her balloon that she got at the surgery center.

Halloween

2009-11-02T09:25:00.009-05:00

Brownies for the cookout - Lola has to ice hers with chocolate and Sophie's are of course with vanilla icing.

Faith and her super gross scary face!

Halloween Moon

Brian with Maw and I in our wigs!

Aunt Kathy and Aunt Jenner

Poppy and Paw

Trick or Treating at Maw and Paw's

The girls wanted to go as My Melody and Hello Kitty for Halloween.
(For those of you that don't know My Melody is Hello Kitty's bunny friend.)
I figured these would not be easy costumes to find so I decided to just make them myself. I think they turned out pretty cute. Lola did have a hard time keeping her head up though...those ears just kept wanting to flop forward.

Trick-or-Treating at Aunt Cindy and Uncle Mike's house

Now on to Aunt Cherry and Uncle Mike's house

Next we went to Maw and Paw's house

Maw and Paw were dressed up as well

Aunt Jenner LOVES Hello Kitty and My Melody so she was super excited to get her picture made with them.

Jenner as Hello Kitty

Parent/Teacher Conferences & Report Cards

2009-10-29T12:39:00.002-04:00

I am please to report that both girls got outstanding praise during their parent/teacher conferences.

Sophie's grade has student-led conferences. She wasn't nervous a bit..she walked right in and took charge...even letting us know what she needed to improve on. She tested out of 2nd grade math at the beginning of the year so she got to skip it and go right on to 3rd grade math. There is about 83 students in the 2nd grade and only 18 of them tested out, then they had to have recommendations from their 1st grade teachers as to whether or not they could handle it. Third grade math for second graders is the first Gifted/Talented class you are eligible for at HSE so we are really proud of her for starting off on the right track. As of this grading period she had an A in math as well as all of her other subjects. 5 A's total. This is the first year they actually give letter grades so she was excited. She is also currently reading at level N. They currently expect 2nd graders at this time of year to aim for level L so she is a wonderful reader as well.

It was apparent when we first walked in that Lola's teacher just adores her. She couldn't say enough sweet things about her. She doesn't get letter grades in Kindergarten but she is right on track for everything. She knows all of her capital letters and most of her lower case. (b, d, q, are the troublesome ones) She knows many of her sight words that they are learning this year. She also knows all of her colors, shapes, and numbers. Despite having missed 10 days of school so far with all of her illnesses she is keeping up and learning a lot. We are super proud of her too.

my girls

2009-10-29T12:37:00.002-04:00

Just my girls being themselves....goofy.

the wreck

2009-10-22T12:57:00.005-04:00

Lola and I were involved in a car accident. Lola is fine, just some bruising from the seatbelt. No, it wasn't my fault. I was in my Mazda 3 and was hit on the front passenger side by a Ford F250. My car is totaled. My ankle is sprained. It has not been a fun week. Here are some pictures from when we went to go clean out my car at the impound lot.

Lola getting Mia ready for Winter

2009-10-22T12:56:00.001-04:00

Can you believe this dog was tortured at one point in her life before we rescued her? Oh wait, maybe she still is being tortured.
Actually she was so good - she always just stands there and lets Lola do whatever she wants to her.

Lola got new Spongebob gloves, hat and scarf for winter this year.

School Pictures

2009-10-20T11:56:00.004-04:00

Sophie - 2nd grade - Fall 2009 - 7 years old
(Sophie had a tooth pulled the day before - you can see her cheek is still a little swollen - and she was wearing a pink shirt but for some reason the pictures make it look red.)

Lola - Kindergarten - Fall 2009 - 5 years old
(Lola just got her glasses the day before - this was her first day wearing them to school!)

For My Sister

2009-10-15T18:40:00.000-04:00

The Middle Child
- Ethel M. Kelly

Whenever there is company
And mother sends for us,
It's always 'bout the baby that
They make the biggest fuss.
They say,"She's sweet as can be!"
"Her hair, just see it curl!"
They never say such things to me,
'Cause I'm the middle girl.

And then they say to brother, "Why,
Is this the oldest child?
He'll be a man by and by!"
And after they have smiled
And held his hand, they look at me.
Mamma says, "She's begun
To lose her teeth," and then they laugh--
'Cause I'm the middle one!

Then brother speaks his little piece,
And baby sis is asked to sing;
But no one ever seems to guess
That I do anything.
Although my name is Cynthia,
And Cynthia means "pearl,"
Nobody thinks that I'm sweet,
'Cause I'm the middle girl.

When I grow up, and when I have
A family of my own,
I'll send up for the middle girl
To come down-stairs alone;
And I shall let her speak and sing
And have a lot of fun.
I'll not deny her anything

'Cause she's the middle one!

(I took some liberties with Ms. Kelly's poem. It has been adapted to fit our family.)

The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert Service

2009-10-15T18:38:00.000-04:00

This is my favorite poem of all time.

My dad used to read it to me before I would go upstairs to bed.

(Yeah, I know, not your typical bedtime story but I liked it.)

There are strange things done in the midnight sun

By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tales

That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

But the queerest they ever did see

Was that night on the marge of Lake LeBarge

I cremated Sam McGee.

Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and blows.

Why he left his home in the South to roam ‘round the Pole, God only knows.

He was always cold, but the land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell;

Though he’s often say in his homely way that “he’d sooner live in hell.”

On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.

Talk of your cold! Through the parka’s fold it stabbed like a driven nail.

If our eyes we’d close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn’t see;

It wasn’t much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee.

And that very night, as we lay packed tight in our robes beneath the snow,

And the dogs were fed, and the stars o’erhead were dancing heel and toe,

He turned to me, and “Cap,” says he, “I’ll cash in this trip, I guess;

And if I do, I’m asking that you won’t refuse my last request.”

Well, he seemed so low that I couldn’t say no; then he says with a sort of moan:

“It’s the cursèd cold, and it’s got right hold till I’m chilled clean through to the bone.

Yet ‘tain’t being dead—it’s my awful dread of the icy grave that pains;

So I want you to swear that, foul or fair, you’ll cremate my last remains.”

A pal’s last need is a thing to heed, so I swore I would not fail;

And we started on at the streak of dawn; but God! he looked ghastly pale.

He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day of his home in Tennessee;

And before nightfall a corpse was all that was left of Sam McGee.

There wasn’t a breath in that land of death, and I hurried, horror-driven,

With a corpse half hid that I couldn’t get rid, because of a promise given;

It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: “You may tax your brawn and brains,

But you promised true, and it’s up to you to cremate those last remains.”

Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.

In the days to come, though my lips were dumb, in my heart how I cursed that load.

In the long, long night, by the lone firelight, while the huskies, round in a ring,

Howled out their woes to the homeless snows--- O God! how I loathed the thing.

And every day that quiet clay seemed to heavy and heavier grow;

And on I went, though the dogs were spent and the grub was getting low;

The trail was bad, and I felt half mad, but I swore I would not give in;

And I’d often sing to the hateful thing, and it hearkened with a grin.

Till I came to the marge of Lake LaBarge, and a derelict there lay;

It was jammed in the ice, but I saw in a trice it was called the “Alice May.”

And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum;

Then “Here,” said I, with a sudden cry, “is my cre-ma-tor-eum.”

Some planks I tore from the cabin floor, and I lit the boiler fire;

Some coal I found that was lying around, and I heaped the fuel higher;

The flames just soared, and the furnace roared—such a blaze you seldom see;

And I burrowed a hole in the glowing coal, and I stuffed in Sam McGee.

Then I made a hike, for I didn’t like to hear him sizzle so;

And the heavens scowled, and the huskies howled, and the wind began to blow.

It was icy cold, but the hot sweat rolled down my cheeks, and I don’t know why;

And the greasy smoke in an inky cloak went streaking down the sky.

I do now know how long in the snow I wrestled with grisly fear;

But the stars came out and they danced about ere again I ventured near;

I was sick with dread, but I bravely said: “I’ll just take a peep inside.

I guess he’s cooked, and it’s time I looked”;…then the door I opened wide.

And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar;

And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and he said: “Please close that door.

It’s fine in here, but I greatly fear you’ll let in the cold and storm---

Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it’s the first time I’ve been warm.”

There are strange things done in the midnight sun

By the men who moil for gold;

The Arctic trails have their secret tales

That would make your blood run cold;

The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,

But the queerest they ever did see

Was that night on the marge of Lake LeBarge

I cremated Sam McGee.

Lolaisms

2009-10-06T22:10:00.004-04:00

Conversation Lola and I had in the car a few days ago:
Lola - Do you miss your mommy?
me - Yes, I miss her.
Lola - Like everyday?
me - Yes, everyday.
Lola - I wonder what that feels like when your mommy dies.
me - What what feels like, dying or having your mommy die?
Lola - Having your mommy die and missing her everyday. Missing somebody makes me sad and you don't seem sad everyday. But I guess you are sad and then you look at me and it makes you soooo happy right?
me - That's exactly right Lola.

Conversation between Sophie and Lola in the backseat of the car.
Lola - I love it when I get to sit in the watcher seat.
Sophie - What's a watcher seat?
Lola - That seat right there.
Sophie - You mean the passenger seat.
Lola - No, I mean the watcher seat. That's the driver's seat and that's the watcher's seat.

Sophie - Mommy, Lola stuck her tongue out at me.
Lola - I did not, my tongue told my brain it needed air so I gave it some.

AAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!

2009-09-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

I don't know about anyone else that entered but waiting for the results of this Sarah Fisher helmet contest is driving me insane. I have checked her website a billion times. On the press release announcing the competition it stated that the results would be announced via her website (sarahfisher.com) on September 28th. That was yesterday. Yes, I know its been a day but seriously, I am dying over here. I normally wouldn't be so anxious but I feel like my helmet could be a contender....granted I am biased...I designed it...but it is awesome.

New Blog

2009-09-04T11:13:00.004-04:00

I have just started a new blog as a requirement for one of my classes. It will be used to post my artwork and class assignments. I have just set it up and will be designing the logo and background soon. I wanted to share the address on this page so you can follow that blog as well.

It is called reD.Owl art....the address is redowlart.blogspot.com.

Enjoy!

LOOK @ LOLA

2009-09-02T21:57:00.000-04:00

Lola loved her new glasses. She put them right back on after her shower. When it was bedtime she even kissed them and told them good night. She picked out the purple frames herself.

Tooth Fairy Time

2009-09-02T21:47:00.000-04:00

Sophie had to have a tooth pulled at the dentist. She was a very big girl for the whole ordeal. She even got to bring the tooth home to leave for the tooth fairy.

The downside - the next day was picture day and she woke up with a very swollen face - but of course still cute!

Lola - Fashionista

2009-08-25T21:43:00.000-04:00

Lola likes to pick her clothes out for school. She loves her boots with the fur on top!

Choo-Choo State Fair Here We Come!

2009-08-22T21:24:00.000-04:00

We took the train to the State Fair this year. It was nice not having to worry about parking. Plus, it was fun, the girls and I had never rode on a train before.

Waiting for the Train

Oh My Goodness - Here it Comes!!!!!

We have our tickets and are ready to ride!

mmmmm cheeeezy fries

Finally tall enough for bumper cars!

Lola didn't like the carpet slide.
Sophie LOVED it.

First Day of School

2009-08-12T21:02:00.000-04:00

First Day of Second Grade - Sophie - 7

First Day of Kindergarten - Lola - 5

At the bus stop - the driveway next to ours

Getting on the bus with Tamecio, Janea, and Mohamma

Lola blowing me kissed through the window

This is getting off the bus after the first day - she was so excited to tell us about it - notice her sweater and backpack are still on the bus.

Kindergarten Meet the Teacher Night

2009-08-11T20:56:00.000-04:00

I would have liked to get pics of both the girls in front of the sign before school but they wanted to ride the bus to school and home from school on the first day so Mommy had to stay at home. I did get this picture of Lola the night before her first day at "Meet the Teacher" night. We got to meet Miss Pinkus and see Lola's classroom and desk.

South Spencer Cheer Camp

2009-07-30T20:41:00.000-04:00

The girls got to go to South Spencers Cheer Camp this year with their cousin Makaylee and friend Natalie.

Who needs a swimming pool?!?!

2009-07-24T20:33:00.000-04:00

Cousin Day 2009

2009-07-21T12:23:00.000-04:00

There were even crafts!!! I have the best mother-in-law ever!

Dad Turns 70

2009-07-18T21:21:00.000-04:00

~HUGS~

2009-07-18T19:51:00.001-04:00

YMCA Summer Camp Awards

2009-07-10T21:14:00.000-04:00

Lola got the award for the best singer.

Sophie got the Walking Encyclopedia Award
(the polite way of calling her a know-it-all)

4th of July

2009-07-04T19:45:00.000-04:00

Lola was really proud of the brownies she helped decorate. Tommye had a great idea of cutting brownies out with star cookie cutters. I decided to take on the task...it wasn't as easy as I though it would be. There was quite a bit of wasted brownie and the stars were not easy to free from the cookie cutters. (Don't get me wrong...none of the uncut portions went to waste...we had to eat them.) Lola helped with the icing and the sprinkles.

Jenner's flip-flops matched Lola's dress perfectly.
She was surprised however when they didn't fit her feet.

Sophie D'Asia and Lola

Holiday World

2009-07-03T10:56:00.003-04:00

Sophie, Lola, and I went with Kate and Natalie on our annual trip to Holiday World. (Where are we going to get tickets now Kate? lol)
The first thing the girls wanted to go on was the bumper boats. This ended up being the longest line of the whole day. I think they waited for 45 minutes. Good thing it was first.

Waiting for their turn on the roller coaster...I think they were a little nervous.

Natalie really didn't want it to go around a second time.

It's over...and it was fun after all.