Kylie's Pet Photography

"Kristi, can I use your phone?"

Kylie takes my cell phone outside and comes back in with some neat photos of our pets.  I added a little editing effects via the Afterlight App and viola!  Here is the real, every day of our pets.

Rudy hardly leaves her "spot."  Right next to the front door and her food bowl.  She always looks (and acts) timid, and do you see the dirt spot on her nose?  I think that proves she is one of the culprits digging in our fresh dirt brought in around the new sidewalk.

Tanner never sits still for long.  Something must have been distracting him up the road.  He really needs a hair cut as his is full of prickles and thorns.

And Natty, there's not too terribly much to say about him.  He has a lot, a lot, of fur, which is now falling off in clumps for the summer.  He leaves to go "catting" for a few days and then returns, having to battle to eat his dinners before Tanner devours the cat food.

Rudy

Tanner

Natty

 

Wasps Really Sting

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.  Isn't that what they say?

I was stung by a wasp...that didn't kill me.  Did it make me stronger, or add character as Keane says?  Yes, and this is how.

Firstly, it hurt.  I screamed, and I ran when I saw what got me.  I found some spray for bites and such, and I sprayed some on my arm, and then sprayed more, and then even more.  After the initial pain went away, I wasn't concerned with it until the following day, when my arm was swollen and red around the sting, and the red spot kept growing, itching, and looking more inflamed.  It was a holiday and I had to wait until the next day to schedule an appointment to see my doctor, and then the morning after that (4 days later) I was to have an appointment.  Four days later is about the time that wasp stings start to look better.

I debated going to the doctor but I had already taken the morning off work to do so.  I called the doctor's office to find out how much a doctor's visit for someone without insurance would be.  It was more than I wanted to pay, especially with fear that I was going for nothing.  I was going to go...I wasn't going to go...I called Keane who informed me that I should go to be safe.  I went.  But the whole point of my story is this:

Four minutes until my appointment, I called and cancelled.  Nine minutes after my scheduled appointment time, I called to see if I could still come in.  "No, I'm sorry, we won't be able to get you in until this afternoon or tomorrow."  I completely freaked out.  It was only nine minutes after my cancelled scheduled appointment. 

"I'll just come in and be late to my scheduled appointment.  I will wait if I have to." 
"I'm sorry, but the nurse is already booked with her 8:30 appointment."
"I can be there in just a minute."
"I'm sorry, but we can schedule something for tomorrow morning."
"I can't!" 
"You can't what, ma'am?" 
"I can't take off any other time."
"What time do you have to be at work in the morning, hun?"
"At 8:00.  Can't I just come now and be late for my appointment?"
"We can't get you in this morning."
"If someone shows up nine minutes late to their scheduled appointment, would you turn them away?" 
"Well, the earliest we can do is 9:00." 
"That's fine.  I'll be there immediately." 

I apologized to the secretary.  She was doing her job and I was being that obnoxious lady.  The same obnoxious lady who took the morning off a couple weeks ago to try to get the veterinary clinic to rearrange their entire schedule to fit me in to look at my cat who was losing fur...probably because of fleas the secretary told me.  I hate being that woman.  You know, the one who thinks the world revolves around them.  Luckily, the secretaries were forgiving, understanding, and showed pity compassion for me and my stressors.

I was in and out of the doctor's office before 9:00.  I got prescribed some strong cream to put on my sting site, and I got a tetanus shot.  I also know now that if a wasp sting spreads, it is most likely due to the poison and gravity.  I did not go for nothing.  I went for peace of mind.

What didn't kill me -- the sting, the stress, the taking a morning off work -- only made me stronger.  In some way or another, I'm sure that it did.

The Good Old Days

"I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you've actually left them," Andy Bernard, played by Ed Helms, said on the good-bye of The Office.

Keane expressed to me that he figured out why life seems to be flying by so quickly.  He said it is because we are always waiting for the next big thing to happen, to occur, or to finally get here.  When we are young, we cannot wait to turn 16 to be able to drive, and then we want to turn 21 to legally have a drink.  We are anxious to graduate high school, go to college, and then quickly graduate from college.  We want to get a house, get married, and have kids.  We want to find that perfect job and be able to purchase our ideal car.

If we were able to take the time to look at where we are right now, we may realize that this is a time that we once were waiting for.  If we can learn to appreciate it for what it is, we may realize how much of life there is in the here-and-now.  We could then, possibly, fully grasp and enjoy the time we are in, and maybe life would not seem to fly by so fast.

These are the good old days.  Those days that we once hated and could not wait to get through (the ones with the homework assignments and relationship drama) are wonderfully pleasant when we look back on them now.  But years from now, we will be remembering these days. 

Embrace your life today.  Embrace the people in it, who you are, and what you have right now.

 

Lenox-Scape

 

Camera Shy

End of the School Year

I love how my mom took the same picture of Kollin on the first day of 6th grade and on the last day.  He has grown and matured a lot this year.  Now that his last day of school is over, he is officially in junior high!  He will get a locker next year and have multiple classes and teachers.  He is going to love it.

I didn't have time to look at Kaden and Kylie's first day of school picture for their 3rd and 1st grade years, so it's not quite as similar as their last day of the school year photo.  It is fun to see how much they have grown.  Kaden has matured a lot and Kylie is still as ornery as ever (and all legs).

 

Happy Summer Vacation to the school-aged kids.  I told Kollin that he needs to enjoy his enough for his hard-working sisters!

Thankful Tuesday

I have heard that the best bloggers share what's really on their minds.  Today (aka Taco Tuesday at our house) is also known as Thankful Tuesday.  And if it's not, then let's just go with it.

I am thankful for cancelled practice.  Honestly.

There were storms and rain in the area last night which means the baseball fields are too wet to have baseball practice.  This makes me sigh with relief.  Keane and I were able to ride to work together because of it and I get to spend time with just him tonight.

Do you ever feel like you come last on his priorities of scheduling?  I know that I see him more than anybody, we ride to work together, we go to bed together, and everything else in between, but to really feel like I'm getting time with him, I want uninterrupted time.  I want to enjoy supper, watch TV, laugh, talk, cuddle, and just have the most boring night that you can possibly think of, together.

So, I'm thankful.

I'm also thankful that my family members who live in Oklahoma are safe.  I am praying for the ones who have lost their family members, their homes, their beloved pets and belongings, their safety, and the ones who have lost their own lives. 

We can help by texting "REDCROSS" to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief.

Lake and Sunshine

 

The kids got new swimming suits this weekend.  Kylie tried on four different suits, but she easily picked the one that suited her best (pun intended).  They had a blast jumping in the lake (as much as you can do into a gradually deepening lake shore), splashing each other, and floating on their backs.  I enjoyed the sun, as did the dogs, and Keane got a lot of grass beautifully mowed .

 

 

"Our teeth are like butterflys," says Kylie.  And this is why...

"First we are babies and we don't have teeth, and that's like the caterpillars in their eggs and they haven't hatched yet.

Then we get our little teeth, and the caterpillar hatches.

Then we lose our teeth, and that's the caterpillar entering into its chrysalis.

And then we grow our big teeth, and you have a butterfly!"

Nephew Update

Looking through my phone, I realized I have a lot of snapshots of my nephew that I want to preserve and never lose.  Most of these photos are credited to my sister, and a few even from his babysitter.

Last week, my sister told me that when she went to drop McCoy off at the babysitter's for the day, he was so excited to get on a bike outside that he wiggled his way out of Kimberly's arms to get on the bike.  As she was backing up her car to leave, she looked up and saw McCoy waving at her. 

This story melts my heart.  He is growing up.  He's not the baby nephew I once knew, nor a toddler really.  He's a little boy and boy, do I miss him dearly!


Blanket I crocheted for McCoy

McCoy and his momma

Hanging out at Grandma Kathy's

Sleeping upright to make his earache feel better

Chillin' with his homie dog

Not feeling well

Rocking his new kicks

New Cars slippers

Playing in the snow

Eating snow balls

At the doctor's office for a check up

Playing cars at the babysitter's

Out to eat with Mommy, sipping from a straw

McCoy and Mommy with their Easter gifts from Grandma Kathy

Being ornery to Uncle Kollin



Passed out

Looking good in his shades

Big boy carseat

Cool dude in the grocery store

Wearing Mommy's sunglasses at the store

Playing piano for the babysitter

Uncle Kollin trying to keep McCoy still long enough for a photo

Crashed after watching Kollin's baseball game

Lenox Window Watching

 

 

 

It's Friday.  Spring weather is here and with that comes happy moods.  Lenox has been having fun chasing the bugs that sneak inside, and we have been enjoying grilling and being outdoors. 

 

We have intentions of getting in the garden this weekend.  I also intend to grocery shop which keeps getting put off.  I am purchasing a video camera from my uncle, and I need to see about getting my dog's hair cut.  Soon I will be buying a coffee pot for Keane and pillows for us both.  I need to put some antlers on my shop and paint a new item I will have for sale soon.  I need to keep up with a "crunch challenge" Keane and I are doing, along with the squats and arm reps I've been doing along with the crunches.  I plan to go through many, many shirts (and old hats) and donate them because we haven't worn them in years.  I also need to mail a gift for my nephew today!

STL Cardinals Game 2012

I wasn't blogging as much last summer and so this weekend adventure never got blogged about.  I am getting antsy to go to a Cardinals game this year.  I've been thinking about getting Chicago Cubs tickets when the Cardinals will be playing there and plan our vacation around that. 

Here are some iPhone photos from last summer when we took the kids to the Cardinals game.  It was a hot day but the drinks and cotton candy helped us make it through the game.  I love going to Busch Stadium; it's always such a fun time.

We also went to the St. Louis Arch at Kylie's request (our third attempt at it) and the Magic House. 

Lenox-Scape

 

Knee Sniffer

Momma's Day Weekend

The sunshine was a gift in itself.  I was able to spend a couple hours with my mother in the morning before she headed off for an afternoon of little brother's baseball.  See his team's sweet Mother's Day shirts below!

Keane wanted to surprise me with flowers for Mother's Day, but his wallet was in my car while I was away from the house.  So instead, we went and picked some hanging plants out together.  They add such a sweet touch to the home.  Now to keep them watered and alive...

We also bought Karen (Keane's mom) a windchime for Mother's Day, which I think Keane would have rather me picked out instead of flowers for myself. The perks, besides the beautiful sound, is it is something that doesn't need to be watered!

Then we enjoyed delicious pork burgers for supper.

On Friday, we spent an evening playing shuffleboard with friends and skipping through people's purchased jukebox songs at Teddy Joe's.  This ultimately led to a few free drinks from the sorry bartender.

Then on Saturday, Keane and I, along with Matt and Nikki, made our way to AJ's Eat and Drink.  Their steaks looked delicious and my double bacon cheeseburger was to die for.  We stopped at a bar to play shuffleboard on the way back home, and then to the Junction for some live music.

 

Happy Momma's Day Weekend to all!