We're screwed....

So, we decided to seek our "revenge" on Tim and Susan for the Post It Note birthday prank. This morning I placed an ad on Craigs List for 47 FREE ladders along with their phone number for people to call. The quickly began recieving calls from people who were interested in picking them up. They counterattacked within 30 minutes with another ad on Craig's List for $30 NIB lawnmowers listing our phone numbers. I have recieved close to 50 calls and despite the ad being removed hours ago, people are still calling. And then came this.....I just checked my e-mail a few moments ago and had an e-mail titled "We Were There"...Let it be known, that I was in the kitchen the entire time this was happening. My lazy non barking dog was asleep by our front door and Grace was asleep on the couch.

Happy Birthday Wes!!!

Today was Wes' 36th birthday. He decided to go ahead and take the day off work, which was nice for us. He got a few phone calls wishing him a happy birthday, including a call from two of the boys he coached in football this past year. That really put a smile on his face. Overall though, he seemed to be feeling pretty down about his birthday. We had nothing planned for this evening (or so he thought), and he was beginning to think nobody cared. However, some friends of ours had hatched a plan to surprise him with a little birthday prank. So, while we were all at Grace's follow up appointment they headed to our house and got busy working on his birthday surprise. This is what we came home to.

The best part of this was watching the reactions of people who drove past our house this evening. People were staying an extra long time at the stop sign, and making u-turns to get a second look. We even saw a few people who appeared to pass our home, go pick up people from their house, then bring them back to get a look at his posted truck. So kudos to Tim, the mastermind behind this, and his loyal subjects Charis and Susan. Hats off to their kids who also helped get the job done. Their hard work was rewarded with tacos, fajitas, and queso. Thank you also to Charis for baking cupcakes.

P.S. Wes is currently plotting his revenge. Feel free to e-mail us any ideas you might have.

I NEVER want my tonsils out...

Well, after seeing how much pain Grace has been in this past week, I am quite certain I never want to have my tonsils removed. Things started off pretty good, but quickly headed down hill. The worst time for her is when she wakes up and her pain meds have worn off. At the begining of the week when she woke up she would do her best to curse the doctors saying things like, "They are MEAN!! MEAN!! MEAN!! They hurt me!!" It was gut wrenching. This morning though she was hurting so bad that she was begging me to take her to see a doctor. I am physically and mentally exhausted. I was suppose to be on Spring Break this week. God, what I would give to have a hangover right now.

Tuesday night through Thursday morning she ran a fever. Then Thursday morning she threw up. I got her cleaned up and put the clean up towels along with the rest of my dirty towels in the washing machine. Half way through the cycle, water began pouring out of my bathrooms. Turns out we had a clogged pipe. Wes had already left for work, so I called my friend Renee and broke down in tears to her mom. Thankfully, Renee brought me some dry towels (since all of mine were in the wash) to soak up the flood that had made it's way to the hardwoods in my hallway. Grace has been doing pretty good during the day, but man the mornings just suck for her. Anyways, we head back to the doctor tomorrow for her recheck. We did manage to get out of the house for a little bit today (during our window of Hydrocodone opportunity). We headed to a nearby park for about an hour to soak in some of this beautiful weather we've been having. I think the fresh air was good for all of us.

Photos Taken This Morning (Day 6)

Needing hugs from Mama after taking her medicine.

And a few pics from the park this afternoon.

My Big Redneck Wedding

For all my White Trash Wednesday fans....You're going to want to check this show out. It's on CMT and is hosted by Tom Arnold. If you click on the link below, you can view past episodes of this awesome show.

http://www.cmt.com/shows/dyn/my-big-redneck-wedding/series.jhtml

And just so you all know. I failed you guys yesterday. On our way to dinner last night, a red Firebird pulled up next to us. As I looked over, I spotted a man with shoulder length hair and the girl next to him was wearing a side ponytail with a Halloween bow. It was truly remarkable and I was cussing myself for not bringing my camera. So, letting you guys in on this show is my way of saying, "I'm sorry."

Lots of Updates

Well, I hope you guys missed me. Our computer has been out of commission for the past 2 weeks, but it is finally fixed. (Thanks Jose!!) So, let's see. I'm not even sure where to start as it's been an eventful few weeks.

First of all we have an announcement to make. We have a new addition to our family. His name is Romo and he is a lab and basenji mix. We think he is around 9 months old. He came to us completely house trained and lazy like the Pittman's. He is fitting in quite nicely.

In other news, I photographed my friend Cassie and her kids a few weekends ago. Hunter plays football with her son, which is how we met. They had never had a family picture taken and I was happy to get some practice in with my new camera. Cassie recently chopped off her hair and had highlights put in. What better time for family pics then now.

The next day, Grace attended her friend Gigi's princess party. She had a wonderful time celebrating her friend's 5th birthday.


In other exciting news, my filthy children took a bath. And Grace showed us over and over how she can now snap. She's pretty excited about this new found talent of hers.

Then, last week Grace's school had Disco Day in celebration of the letter "D". How freakin' cute is this???? She won't wear the pettiskirt I bought her, but she'll wear an afro wig. Silly girl.

Then guess what...It snowed!!!! Well, we didn't get that much but the kids had fun playing in it for a little bit.


Now this past weekend, we headed off to do some shopping thanks to Daddy's hardwork, and his nice bonus check. Grace is very excited to be an official big girl in her new booster seat.

And now to the big news of this week. Monday morning Grace had a tonsillectomy, adnoidectomy, and a tube placed in her right ear. She has been taking fluids and some food quite well. However, last night she spiked a 103 fever and was quite miserable. Please keep her in your thoughts this week for a speedy recovery.

Lookie What I Got!!!!

Oh man!! I am so excited!!! I have wanted an SLR camera for years now. This is the Canon EOS Rebel XT. My point and shoot has been a great camera (Thanks Loyd and Mary!), but I have longed for something more. As far as DSLR cameras go, this is pretty basic, but it is still like 1,000 times better than what I had. I can't wait to learn how to use it, and to get clearer shots of my kids. I've got several photog friends, and I'm certainly not looking to break into the business with this, but I really love taking pictures, and I'm excited to be able to take some better quality photos. So, here's a couple of shots from my first day of shooting. I'm sure I'll look back in a few months and be able to critique everything that is wrong about them, but for now I love them.

Well, I'm off to make my wishlist of lenses. Can't wait to share more pics with you all!

Another Goodbye....

So, I got a call this morning that one of my dad's best friends had passed away. David or "Yeager" as we called him, and my dad had been friends since grade school. They were next door neighbors growing up and forged a friendship that lasted for decades. My dad had an amazing circle of friends, and yet David stood out. Many of my dad's friends have been a part of my life since birth, but David was the only one who made an effort to stay in touch with me after my dad's passing. He would come over and have dinner with my family on occassion and we kept in touch through e-mail between visits. He helped me to feel connected to my dad. He would share stories with me, some that I had heard a million times, and others that I had never heard. He was an active member of AA. He was the one who told me it was okay to be mad at my dad for some of the things he had done, and yet still love him. In a way, he gave my soul permission to not feel guilty for all the crazy emotions I had about my father's death. In October, David was diagnosed with a treatable cancer and the chemo & radiation seemed to do their job. On Thursday morning he went into surgery to remove the remaining mass, and all went well. However, in the past few months his body had grown weak and he had gotten down to only 130 pounds. And despite the last 5 years of his life being free of his personal demon, alcohol, the many years of abuse had probably wreaked havoc. On Friday he went into cardiac arrest, was revived, and placed on life support. His family made the devastating decision to remove that support this morning. I am truly heartbroken about this loss, and yet thankful for the time I was able to share with him. The service is planned for Wednesday, my father's birthday. I've been strong all day, but now that everyone is in bed, I am a blubbering mess. Please send me some strength for tomorrow and keep us all in your thoughts.

Below is a picture of me with David Toigo, another friend that grew up on the same street with them, and David Yeager is the one behind me. This photo was taken the night after my dad's memorial service. I had a great time that night hanging out with those guys.

"If I don't see you again in this world. I'll meet you in the next. Don't be late." ~Jimi Hendrix