Rainy Day

 Rainy days kick me in the head, literally.

The meds quit working.

Now it's just tough it out until the sun starts shining. (sigh).

 I think my kitties have the right idea, cuddle up and wait.

 I saw Tail-less again today.

He was walking down the road with a buddy who I see hanging out with him alot.  I snapped this picture as they crossed our driveway.  They were not very happy because of this guy...

 ...who was following them around.

The boys had a half-day of school today to kick off Spring Break.

(Yay!)

Winston walks in the door, throws down his book bag and coat and says, "So, Mom, what kind of crafts are we doin' today?"

I looked at him like a deer in headlights while my temples throbbed.

Crafts?  What crafts?

Apparently he's got a list of things he plans to do over Spring Break.  Crafts is definitely on the list.  So I hopped on the internet and found a quick craft.  Thank goodness for familyfun.com!  They're the best!  I found this cute printable and with some paper, scissors and glue - wallah!  Winston had him some craft.  Well,  sort of.  I'm kind of a perfectionist, so it ended up he watched while I crafted.  But he gets to play with it.  I wonder what we'll come up with tomorrow?

Notice Winston's best friend 'Titanic' is getting in on the action too.

Exhaustion

Proof that the man CAN rest for a few minutes.

We have pretty much exhausted ourselves around here.

We are definitely in need of some time off.

Tom comes home from working 10 hours and puts about 4 more hours into working on the floors we're re-doing.  Today I worked at the school, on top of fighting off migraines again.  (I account yesterday's post-rant to the medications - they seem to get me talkin'.)  All of the boys are so busy with school and other activities.  Winston is pretty much back on an obsession with the Titanic.  It's all he can talk about.  I even hear him talking about it in my sleep.  Maybe that's what brought on the headaches?  Actually, it's just my old friend sinus infection.  We're getting it taken care of - again.

We are SO looking forward to Spring Break!

Tail-less... among other things.

You've heard of  'Toothless the Dragon'...

We have 'Tail-less the Magpie'.

Remember my blog entry about the magpies getting caught in the chicken pen?  Well, the one that got away hasn't moved too far away.  He lives in the woods just off from the front of the house.  I see him out in the yard on a daily basis.  I've been trying to get his picture for quite a while, but he always seems to notice me before I can snap one and he flies off.  It still amazes me that he can fly so well without that tail.  I got this picture because he was a long way off, so it's not the most clear picture.  He has a stubby little tail now.  I wonder if he's growing one back?  Can they do that?  I think he's trying to steal the cat food from the front porch when I'm not looking.  That's probably how he's getting by.

In other news...

I'll warn you, this will be long - so don't feel like you have to read it.

I don't usually share too much personal emotion on this blog, because it's our family blog, but I'm a Mom, and I feel like I need to shake some things off my 'apron strings'.  It sure is amazing what a difference a little over a week can make.  I look back and a little over a week ago I was raving about my second-born and his buddies, my other sons, and all the wonderful plans they had coming up after graduation.  It seems those plans have changed for all of them.  Every one of those boys, my real-born son included, have decided to sign up to work for some security company in Virginia this summer selling security systems, door-to-door.  No real thought to how to get there, how to keep in touch with home, how to provide for themselves (beyond what the company is 'promising' them), none of them own a car... I could go on and on and on.  They are really cutting the apron strings, so to speak.  They sign their contracts tomorrow night.

I've really been thinking long and hard about this.  I've come to a lot of conclusions.  One of them is that it is true that 'What goes around comes around'.  I remember doing some things to my parents when I was 18 that I am not proud of.  One of those things involve an opportunity for a college education that I walked away from.  I don't know how much my parent's had invested in that financially, but I DO know they had a LOT invested emotionally.  I say DO, because I didn't know it then, but I DO know it now.  Although what we are going through is not the exact scenario, not quite as severe, it's still hard.  We have been been assured that he will make it back in time to get his sign-ups done and tests taken to be admitted to WSU, but Virginia is a long way away, and it's really expensive to fly back and forth for that kind of thing.  I don't think he realizes that.  He's just a kid, what does he know?

Another conclusion I've come to is that I really do have to cut the apron strings.  I've been lucky with Preston, so far, in that he's been able to stretch his wings while under my wings.  It's been a real comfort to me.  But with Keaton, I need to just let it be.  He's 18, he want's to make his mark, let him make his own mistakes and hopefully learn from them.  And maybe he'll really be able to do something really good out there.  We raised him right, he'll figure the rest out.  But I will still keep praying that the Lord will send something better his way, (maybe divert his attention to something else?), but of course 'Thy will be done'.  Maybe this is the Lord's will, I just have to have faith.

Anyway,  the rant of a sad Mama.

It's hard seeing your kids make choices that you wouldn't choose for them.  It's also hard letting them go.  

done, done... oops, not done!

I wanted to give you even MORE updated pictures, but Tom was playing with my camera and did something to it, and now I can't get it to take pictures the way I want it to, so...  here's the old-updated photos.

The stairs are almost done, the only thing missing in this picture is the molding at the bottom of the rail panel, and the crown molding around the ceiling.  It's actually up now - but no pictures yet. 

But let me tell you, it does look good!

Another view - looking down. 

 So glad to be done with this.  It took sooooo long to do this project.  A lot longer than we were thinking it would.

The new chandelier we got a good buy on.  It really spiffs things up!

 With the stairs done, and the weather still being temperamental (and a husband who can't sit still for two seconds) the hallway got ripped into next.

Guess how we'll be spending our Spring Break?

 Yep.  Redo-ing the hall and family room, yippee

(in a low whiney voice).

These are old pictures too.  Yeah, about four days old.  Tom's actually got the carpet padding all pulled up and the floors sanded already.  On to the staining and Polying again.

(yippee - again in the whiney voice).

Let Us Eat Cake!

Per Shelby's suggestion, Winston and I had a hankerin' for some cake.

so we went to the 'Shop' and got fixin's for cake.

Strawberry Cake

It was Goooo-oooood!

Sing it! "Water-melon...Water-melon"

Last night was the 3rd and 4th Grade Premier Performance of Benjamin Franklin

Winston was very excited to be a part of this musical presentation.

He even picked out his own clothes.

They did a really good a really good job.  It was Winston's first time on a big stage and he was a little bit nervous, but excited.

He has a hard time singing because of his hearing problem.  He usually likes to just hum along because it's hard for him to keep up with the words.  His teacher told him that if he couldn't keep up with the words, he could just sing the words "Watermelon, watermelon" to the tune of the song they were singing.  That way he would look like he was singing along.

After the show, he told us he sang "Watermelon, Watermelon!" the whole time!

The best part was he got to stand with his best friend Jacob.

Good job guys!

Trailer Houses...

Migraines are back full force.  Went to the Doc this morning.  It's back on the Topomax for me (boo-hoo).  It's been almost 2 years since my last bout.  So I'm a bit loopy as I type this.

The other day Winston was playing very intently at the Kitchen table.  I asked what he was doing, and he said he was playing 'Trailer House' with his dolls and furniture.

It looked like this...

Kind of funny how the first trailer has all the furniture.

The occupants are Star Trek figurines, Little People and Smurfs.

 Tom laughed when he saw this:

Captain Kirk and Ohura just kickin' back.

Spring?

Woke up to this, on the second day in a row...

on the second day of Spring.

And it's still SNOWING.

Preston's back at school after a relaxing spring break.  Today he will be working with some kind of lasers in his Geology lab.  He's looking forward to that.   Keaton has been working furiously on his Senior presentation.  He's got an animated Power-Point show to go along with his speech.  It's kind of cute.  Winston has been pretty busy doing Winston things.  I'll post those later.  We're ALMOST finshed with the stairs.  Just a few more little things (like trim on the 12 foot ceiling) we've been putting off.  I've been staining and polying furiously to get it all done.  All while trying to skip around migraines (again).  So far I've only had a couple of short episodes.  Hopefully I can avoid a big one.  Tom's started ripping up the hallway and is threatening to get to the family room by this weekend.  We'll see.  I'll post more about that later, too.

Have a great Spring Day!

My Boys...

Let me introduce you to my other sons:

From left to right (not including Keaton)...

Ben, McDougal and Tye

I had to get a picture of them the other morning because they will all be graduating soon so there won't be too many more opportunities like this before they go off into lives of their own.

Ben's family is moving after graduation, and he will be going on a mission.

McDougal will be going off to college.  I thinkKeaton said it was in Montana.

Tye will be joining the Army.

Keaton is the only one that will be staying home while going to college.

These boys have been the best of friends.  They've spent many a night here playing games and hanging around together.  We will miss getting to see them all.

Preston's the cool college brother.  He gets to hang out with the guys too.  All of his friends have already gone off in other directions.

My youngest son did something the other night that I thought was kind of cute... (kind of).

I was helping him with his bed-time prayer.  I'd been working with him on coming up with things to tell God he was thankful for.  The other night I thought we'd try something new.  I told him to think of the things he was thankful for that day, and then come up with one thing he wanted the Lord to help him with.  So as he was praying, he prayed that he was thankful for the day, for Mom, for school... etc.  Then he said "Please help me have a baby sister.  Amen."  I think my mouth dropped wide open!  I didn't see that one coming - I didn't even know it was on  his radar.  So I had to explain to him that, unless there's a miracle, that one will not be happening.  The only way he'll have a sister is if one of his brother's gets married.  He kind of gave me a funny look, like "I expected as much."

Silly kid.

Sneaky

Top O' the Mornin' to Ya!

Those little leprechauns are sneaky little guys.

Last night Winston decided he not only needed a leprechaun trap at school, but he needed one here at home too.  So he built one out of an old light bulb box.  We told him he probably wouldn't catch one because we've never had much of a leprechaun problem around here.

His trap:

He filled it with LOTS of money and LOTS of Cheerios.

Sure enough, one of those little guys showed up and absconded with all of Winston's money and Cheerios.

He even had the nerve to TP Winston while he was sleeping! 

All he left behind were his grimey little footprints and some crumbs... 

Oh, and a little black bag full of green M&M's.

He must have felt bad about taking all of Winston's money.

He even left a mocking note:

Poor Winston.

Tom and I both have Irish roots, so we usually have the traditional St. Paddy's Day Dinner.

Our Menu:

Corned Beef & Cabbage

Colcannon (potatos,cabbage & peas)

Irish Soda Bread

Green salad

Lime Jello

Irish Coffee

And for dessert:

Mint Oreos

Shamrock Shakes (Choc. Chip Mint)

Sounds good, huh?

Cleaning up the mess that little guy made.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Those Little Men in Green...

Winston had to build a Leprechaun trap for school.

He had the design all worked out in his head,

then he drew it out on paper.

Then he asked for help building it.

It turned out alright.

He made it look like a cozy little house.

One in which, perhaps, a little fella would like to hang out.

A little dish of 'Life' cereal (we were out of Lucky Charms) and

a little dish of gold coins, to entice.

Then Winston worried about the gold bars on the window and door.

He wondered if little guy would catch on to what this really was.

Then he made plans for what he would do if he actually caught one.

He said he'd make it his pet.

See... nothing suspicious around here.

He even put a little 'Home Sweet Home' sign inside.

If I were a leprechaun I'd be tempted.

Feelin' Lucky?

WishyWashy Weather

Strange weather we're having around here today.

Wind, Rain, Snow, Sun.  Wind, Rain, Snow, Sun.

Repeat.

At least somebody's enjoying it.

Sunday Pictures - and Photo Challenge 30!

Enjoying our typical soup and grilled cheese after morning meeting.

One of my most favorite times of the week.

(Rachel, I read your blog and I totally agree with you.  Being at home with the whole family together, enjoying everyone's company is absolutely heavenly.  It becomes even more precious as the kids get older and have less time to spend together - times like this are something I really soak in.)

Winston enjoying his veggie soup.

My sweetheart.

And last of all...

really last installment for the photo challenge!

Another self-portrait.

Do you how much I dislike taking pictures of myself?

Happy Sunday!

Beautiful Days

We've had the most beautiful couple of days here.

Lovely Sunshine, oh how I've missed thee.

Tom and Winston (a.k.a. The Outdoorsmen) couldn't resist.

Tom's out playing with his toys in the new garden spot.

Winston is re-engineering the chicken coop.

Today is the first official day of Spring Break for Preston.

He is thoroughly enjoying it in a near-vegetative state...

...with his computer games.

Keaton (a.k.a. The Family Social Butterfly) spent last night

at a friends house - supposedly working on their portfolios for Senior Trans Class.

  Today he's helping with the 'Little Wrestlers' meet. I think he's one of the refs.

We don't see much of him these days.

 And what am I doing this fine sunshiney day?

Painting the stairwell, of course.

It will be nice to have this project finally done.

Have a BEAUTIFUL day, ya-all!

Day 29: Black and White...

Crooked Willow

A housewarming gift from Chuck & Donna Coyle.

It's grown a bit in the last 10 years.

Koko Dog

Guarding the homestead from the hillside.

Day 28: Flowers...

The posies Tom gave me for Valentines Day.

They look so elegant in my kitchen window.

They've survived me for almost a month!

#27: From a Distance...

Winston

Playing with Flubber

Win... it's all in the name.

Chocolate Milk for Breakfast!

Around here Winston is a little man of many names.  Maybe that comes with the territory of being the youngest kid in the family.  He puts up with Mom's: Winnie-Poo Poody-Roo and Dad's: Bobo Baggins.  Keaton calls him the twerp.  Grandpa Chick likes to call him 'Winstonian' and when he was younger it was the 'Fire Engine' whenever he cried.

Some of Winston's latest artwork.

I like his colorful house.

It even has the furniture in it!

Lately he's been very interested in Blimps:

He insists on calling them 'Zomblecs' no matter how many times I've told him they're called Zepplins.

  He says he's going to build one.

What a kid!

Day 26: Close-up

Lemon Tree Blossom

It's getting ready to open up.

Our lemon tree blossoms all-year-long.

A Close-up Keaton took of himself.

Winston says Keaton's a Joker.

He keeps us laughing all-year-long.

#25: Something Pink...

Jellybean Kitty's pink little nose.

He got it from his Mama, Scrambled Eggs.

We miss her.

She was a great cat.