A rainy 4th and random thoughts

We didnt go to see fireworks last night as I had hoped. It rained most of the evening so the large public displays were cancelled. I heard at least one was rescheduled for tonight but I'm not sure if we will go or not.

We did go to Trent's parents house for dinner. Talk about some yummy food. His father grilled ribs and tenderloin. Oh man oh man!! I could have eaten my weight in them. Poor Trent was so full he could barely breath.

I made cupcakes, brownies and sliced some home-grown tomatoes (that I am very proud of) to take down there for the dinner. I didn't get pictures of any of it because they werent anything special. I had bought a cake decorating kit some time back and had planned on decorating the cupcakes...Or try to anyway. But of course, being the procrastinator that I am, waited till the last minute to make them so I just threw some red, white and blue sprinkles on top. One of these days I am going to get that kit out and just play around with it. heehee...my new favorite words here lately..."one of these days I'm gonna......."

I have no new projects to share or photos to post. I do have several that I have taken at Steven's and Lathan's baseball games that I am in the process of editing. As well as some of my dear friend Jana's beautiful kiddos. Once I have those edited I will post a few of my favorites.

Kristy has been trying to teach me how to do watermarks for my shots, but I just can't seem to "get it". She made the cutest logo for me and I want to be able to use it to watermark my photos. Ugh....I really wish I knew more about my PSE. I figured out how to get it saved into my brushes but everytime I try to apply it to a photo it doesn't look just as I had hoped. I am wanting it to just have the letters, but it ends up with the box around it.. I tried to play around with it but ended up getting flustered and stopped. LOL.

Sorry Kristy. You are an excellent teacher..but I am a lousey student.

I have also started reading "The Host" by Stepanie Meyer. I'm about half way through it. It seems to be a good book but to be honest it hasn't grabbed me like her other books have. The Twilight Saga was just so addicting. I don't seem to have the level if addiction with this book. I read it at night before I go to sleep. With the Twilight books I read them every chance I had...I neglected my housework for a week to read all four books..LOL.

But I did stay up way to late last night reading. So I got a late start today. Here it is almost 3pm and I'm still drinking coffee. It is also another raining gloomy day and I dont want to do much.

Well I guess I'm off to do some laudry..( that stuff is never ending). The facebook apps are calling my name too. heehee. I may try to tackle some editing later.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend.


~Monica Jo~

(C&R I love and miss you)

Happy 4th of July

I would like to wish everyone a Happy and Safe 4th of July. I'm off to a BBQ and hopefully to see fireworks.

Camping

Steven, Lathan and I took a break from the madness and went camping with some family a couple weekends ago. We went over to Sugar Bay in Land Between The Lakes or LBL as we call it around these here parts.

We only stayed Saturday night and most all day Sunday but the boys had a ball. I wish we could have stayed a bit longer but our schedules wouldn't allow that. Steven had a game early Saturday morning so we couldn't go Friday night. Trent couldn't go because he had to fix a couple tractors and do some much needed clean up in the fields from the ice storm we had a few months ago. I hope we can take all the boys sometime soon and stay for a few days. I miss camping with the boys. It has been several years since we've been. This was also the first time Lathan has been and don't think he didn't let everyone he saw know that..lol.

We had a big time sitting around the fire and doing some night fishing. Steven caught his first catfish ever and boy was it a catch. It weighed in at 7.1 lbs. He was so excited he even talked about having it stuffed and mounted...Sorry son, but I have a better idea of how to enjoy that big 'ole fish...heehee. yummy yummy.

Steven sure was on a roll with the fish. This is a nice size bass he caught too. He caught several while we were there but these were the biggest. I caught a couple but none of them were worth mentioning compared to the ones he got.

Lathan usually could care less about swimming. He's more of an in and out kind of swimmer. Not to mention I'm not a huge fan of swimming in the lake, so I didn't think too much about packing swimsuits for the boys. Lathan doesn't even like wearing shorts very much so he pretty well stays in his Wrangler's and boots all the time. My lil' redneck, gotta love it. But when we got down to the boat ramp and he saw all the other kids swimming he wanted to too. So he stripped off those boots and Wrangler's down to his Batman boxer briefs and away he went. I was surprised he stayed in the water as long as he did. He had a ball.

This is where I was most of Sunday, I had the sunburn to prove it.



Here is another shot I took while the kids were swimming and we adults were relaxing...errr I mean fishing..heehee.

It was a beautiful weekend to go, I am so glad the storms gave us a break long enough.

If you would like to check out more on Land Between the Lakes, go to LBL.org

Sympathy Card

I made this card for some friends of ours who recently had a loss in their family. It had been a long, hard, emotional road for them and I just wanted them to know they are in our thoughts and prayers.



Materials:

Basic Grey "Blush"
Queen & Co. Felt Fusion
Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Tea Dye"
Vellum
Xyron 500 adhesive

TFL

Monica

What to do on a rainy day?

We made these the other day to give us something to do while it was raining...

The birds love them.


If you've never made one they are so easy.

1. Get a pine cone.

2 Spread peanut butter over it.

3. Roll in bird seed.

4. Tie string or yarn around one end.

5. Hang from a tree.


I have seen a couple cardinals enjoying them and have been trying to get a few shots of that. So far no luck..hehee

Today he turns 10

Happy Birthday Charile. I love you more than you will ever know!!!!!!!!

Prayer Request. PLEASE!!

Hello to all my very special creative friends. I can not go into detail at this time but my family and I are going to a very rough time. I am asking for prayers from you all. Please pray for strength, understanding and that this is resolved quickly.

Thank you all so very much. I have a special place in my heart for each one of you.

Love and hugs to you all.

Monica

A quick update and a call for some creative help

Boy time flies when you're addicted to Facebook game apps....I didn't realize I haven't posted anything on here in a little while. I really need to start limiting my time on that site. Oh boy!

I wanted to update on Steven's ACT test....as of right now there isn't an update. He said they told him after the test that it will be 3-8 weeks before he hears of the results. As of today we've still not heard a thing. That day after the test I took him to Walmart to buy anything he wanted within a $20.00 price range. (I was thinking he would load up on ball cards.) He said he had some money too so he was going to put it all together and maybe get something bigger. Boy oh boy does he have some expensive tastes...guess he gets that honest though. He was looking at ipods, digital cameras, Wii...all the while taking note as to how much each costs. He said he was going to save his money to put toward one of those things. Then we went down the office supply isle and he saw the calculators and picked up a pretty good Texas Instrument one. WOW....I was kinda surprised. He's a 13 year old boy...was just looking at ipods and decides to get a calculator to help him with his school work....He really impressed me with that decision. I really shouldn't be surprised though if I just stop to think about it. Math is his best and favorite subject. It's one of the few classes I can count on him to not slack in. It's really fitting he want something to help him out.

Now for the call for some creative help. I am the worlds worst as far as saving things that I think I could use later for a project. I also am trying to teach the boys the value in recycling to help the planet. To reuse items we would normally throw away for other purposes. One of the things I have saved...and is taking up much needed room in my craft room....is the cardboard tubes from gift wrap, paper towels, toilet paper. I know I once saw a cute idea to use these things for but for the life of me can not remember where. I usually print out cute/creative things I see on the internet to put into my inspiration binder but it seems this particular item didn't get printed. So here's where I need the help. Do any of you have any fun creative uses/ideas for these items. I am totally drawing a blank other than little cars for the boys. I quickly tossed out that idea as fast as it popped into my head because I know if we made those they would just end up smashed in their bedroom floor. If you have an idea or can point me into a direction of finding ideas I would be soooo grateful. Feel free to post here or you can email me at monicajo4@mchsi.com.

Thanks in advance.

Proud Mommy Moment & a quick card

Steven is one of only 11 kids in his school that was chosen for the Duke University Talent Search for gifted children this year. I can not begin to explain how proud of him I am. Now that he is officially a teenager I've stepped into a whole new chapter of mommyhood..To be honest there are times when I had just rather skip this stage in his life..hehee. But with all the struggles he and I have been through over the past year it all seems almost worth it. He is going this morning to take his ACT. Did I mention he is in the 7th grade? The Duke program is sponsoring the test. To read more about the Duke TIP program go HERE .
He is so excited and scared to death at the same time. I mean there at things on the test that he just hasn't learned in school yet. I have no doubt that he will do a great job. So I made him a quick "good luck" card yesterday. When I say 'quick' what I mean is from the time I decided to make it to the moment I gave it to him was under an hour. I know had I had more time it could have turned out a bit better, but the look on his face when he got it made me feel like I had made the best card ever.

As another surprise for him today, after his test I am going to take him out for lunch and a bit of shopping.

Steven, Honey, When you read this I want you to know just how much I LOVE you and how proud of you I am. You are one awesome kid and I am blessed to be your mom. I love you Bub!!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek into my life.

~Monica~

My Valentine's Day gifts

I have been meaning to post pictures of what Trent gave me on Valentine's Day for a few days now but I've just not gotten around to it. So here they are.

Trent, bless his heart, has been working so many hours lately. 10 hours a day 7 days a week for the last few weeks to be exact. With no real end in sight. He's so tired when he gets home that he barely has time to eat supper, take a shower and visit with the boys and me before he has to get to bed for the next day. Much less keep his eyes open while doing it. Knowing how tired and sore he is and with everything he has going on with work I honestly didn't think he had time to go to the store to pick anything up this year for me. Or even remember it was Valentine's day to begin with. I wouldn't have blamed him in the least. Besides he spoils me enough throughout the year that he would be off the hook had he missed this one holiday. heehee.

At 5:30 am on Valentine morning, after getting dressed, he goes outside to start his truck to warm it before leaving just like every morning. But this morning when he came back in he was holding this adorable huge teddy bear. awwwwwww.. He had stopped on his way home from work the night before to buy it and hide it out in his truck all night just to surprise me... again...awwwww. Now as a little girl I was a sucker for a cute stuffed animal. I had tons of them in my room most of which were on my bed. And a teddy bear was the LAST thing I'd expect Trent to get. How sweet is he?? I fell in love with my big guy the second I saw him.

I took a pic of the bear with Rex (my 6 year old) just to show how big he really is.


Now like I said I really wasn't expecting anything for Valentine's this year and the bear was such a sweet surprise. Well it just got better. That night when he came home from work, he came in the house like any other night after work. Hugs and hello's to me and the boys and puts his lunch box up in the kitchen. Then right after that said he had to go outside to do something...(I can't remember what his excuse was now). He was only outside for a second when he came in with these......a dozen roses.....OMG!! I have to tell you this was one of the most special Valentines Days ever. He really showed me that no matter how tired he is...no matter how much he does work and is away from home...he is still thinking of ways to make me feel special. And believe me, he does make me feel special.

Now there is a bit of a back story to Trent giving me roses. We were together for a few years before he had bought me any. He felt that buying roses, or flowers in general are a bit of a waste of money because they die. Ok...Ok...so he has a valid point. BUT I don't know many women that don't love flowers.. I prefer wild flowers except for Valentine's Day. To me Valentine's = roses and chocolates...(and now an adorable big teddy) I don't ask for much do I?? heeheee. Anyway...a few years ago he came home on Valentine's with a dozen roses. They were so special to me knowing how he felt about flowers that I dried them and saved them in a basket. I figured that was going to be the only flowers I ever got from him....Low and behold the following year, more roses...woohoo. Then the next year, again,more roses. I have dried all the roses he has ever given to me so I could keep them for a very long time.

This year I decided to do something special with the flowers that mean so much to me. I put them in mason canning jars and tagged them. This is what I came up with.....

I've put them on a shelf in my dinning room so I can see them everyday. I even have the jar and tag ready for this year's roses. As long as he gets me flowers, I will dry them and put them in jars so I can enjoy them for a long time to come.

Well that was my Valentine's Day. Happy Late Valentine's to each of you, I hope it was as memorable and special to you as mine was to me.

~XO Monica OX~

New bloggers in the neighborhood Let's give them a big welcome.

Two very special people to me have joined the blogging world. They are both very creative and talented.

The first is Kristy. Her blog is Webfrndz. She has quickly became a very dear friend to me. The fact that she's married to my cousin doesn't have anything to do with it..heehee. Kristy is an amazing photographer and does not give herself enough credit. She dreams to become a professional photographer someday and I believe she will do just that. She's even started making some of the cutest props for photo shoots. I'm hoping she will share those in her blog someday too. Kristy is so full of creativity that I am green with envy. I'm just thankful she's passed on some of her ideas for photo shoots to me..heehee.

The second is my niece Jo Lynn. Her blog is Hair Bows from the Heart. This girl seems to be the "Go-To" girl for all things weddings these days. She helped me with the planning of my other niece's wedding last year and since has had people knocking down her door for help on their own weddings. I've told her more times than I can count she should start a wedding planner business. Instead she's started making hair bows. And beautiful bows at that. Seeing them makes me wish I had a little girl to buy them for. There really isn't anything she can't do or create.

If you have time, please stop by their blogs to check out some of their work. Tell'em Monica sent ya.

Keep those creative juices flowin'

~Monica~

Ice Storm Photos

An ice storm hit us January 26Th and 27Th. We were without power for the 10 days following. Not to mention cell phone service was out for the first several days. There were over 170,000 homes in Kentucky alone that were affected. There are still thousands of homes across the state without power. Power crews from other states came to Kentucky to work around the clock to help get utilities back on for us.

This one is looking down our driveway to the road. We had already moved several large limbs from the drive before I took this.

If you look closely in this shot you can see the slide from the boys swing set. These are trees that were so heavy from the ice they were bent over the swing-set. Luckily they didn't break and completely fall on the set. The boys are happy it survived.

Another shot down our drive.





The top of a tree in our front yard. Several large limbs had broken off.

This is a shot right out my front door. The limbs that had fallen from the tree above.

A shot of the tree-line and pasture.

The next few shots were just me playing around.

Trent's tractor...

Bird in on a limb.

My statues...

Red berries on a tree. I thought they were so pretty. I couldn't get much closer to them to get a better shot because limbs were falling all around me. I was afraid to get under the trees next to it to get a better shot.

Ice on the limbs with a bird house in the back ground.

Ice on the gate.

Ice on a Cedar Tree.

The ice and snow are now gone and the clean up has begun. It really does look like a war zone out there. But we are counting our blessing because it could have been much worse.

Keep the families who are still without power in your prayers.

~Monica~

Study Time

I've been spending the majority of my time reading and studying lately. Well, that's if I can pull myself away from FaceBook long enough. In the time since my last post I've completed 2 more sections in my Interior Decorator course.." Principles of Color" and "Decorating with Fabric'' as well as completing two more photography classes at HP.com. One on camera composition and the other on photographing babies in the first year. It's true that I'm past the baby stage in my Mommy career, but I thought it would be a good class to take for information only. I have a friend who will soon be having a baby and Trent's brother and sister-in-Law are expecting sometime next Fall. I'm hoping to be able to "borrow" a baby.

Taking the photography classes on Hp.com has only fueled my passion for Photography. On top of taking the classes I've finished reading a book on the subject and now looking for the next book to start reading. All of this activity has lead me to enroll for the Photography course with the same school I'm taking my Interior Decorator through. At the moment I'm waiting on the final enrollment paper work so I can get started.

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to start this course. I may never become a professional photographer or even a paid amateur. And you know, that doesn't matter so much to me. I just want to take great photos of my family.

Another reason I am taking the class is Lathan will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall. He is the last of the "litter" so to speak. All four boys will be in school. Which will leave me home alone all day to enjoy peace and quiet, get all the things done in one day that I never could before with little ones running around, and to ultimately become completely and utterly bored out of my mind.....you get the idea.

So just consider this post a warning that you will soon be flooded with pictures on top of pictures of my trying to become a better photographer... Nothing to share as of yet. I still have to complete one more class at Hp.com before I will allow myself to post any new pics. This class is on Photoshop Elements..heehee. And Trent told me I had to finish the painting in the house before I can go out spending my day taking pictures. LOL I guess he's probably right. I'm getting pretty tired of seeing the paint cans in the laundry room too.

Well...that's about all the babbling I'll put you through for now. Until next time stay warm and keep those creative juices flowin'

~Monica~

Playing with a Christmas Gift.

The boys and I gave Trent a Game Trail camera for Christmas. For those of you who don't know what they are..they are used for hunting. You attach it to a tree in the area you plan to hunt to see what kind of activity is going on. Check it out more at Cabela's .



Trent put the camera out here on the farm just to check it out and see what we could get. He placed it in an area where he know deer usually travel through. Unfortunately we haven't gotten pictures of any deer yet. What we have gotten are a bunch of shots of nothing, I guess the wind or rain would trigger the motion sensor. We've also gotten several shots of dogs, ours and others from the area. Also the occasional rabbit and what we think is a raccoon. (it was kinda hard to make out) But this one shot is by far my favorite of all that we've gotten so far. If only he had been turned facing the camera.

That has got to be the biggest fox I have ever seen. I think I am more excited about this shot than Trent is..heehee.

We moved the camera the other day to an area where we believe the deer bed down. My fingers are crossed we get some good shots. If we do I will be sharing those for sure.

Who knows, we may get a shot of BigFoot...LOL

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek into my life.

~Monica~

Ya learn something new everyday!!

I'm taking free online Photography classes at HP.com. I just completed the first class. Now I am on to my second course "Camera composition: change your perspective".

I just wanted to share and pass on the information just in case someone may want to join me in these classes.

Monica