Sunrise....Sunset....

Sunrise.....
Sunset.....

This is the beautiful sunset my niece was talking about on her blog. It seems like those are the pictures I always take.....I forget to grab the camera when the kids are doing something fun or what not. My collection has years and years worth of sunsets. This year I messed with the settings on my camera and got some different pictures and that was cool. This sunset picture was taken during the Antelope Complex Fire and the sky was just beautiful. We were fortunate enough to only have one day of smoke in the air, the rest of the time the smoke was hanging over the mountain ranges that surround the lake. The sunrise picture - surprising that I caught it really - was more about the mist that was hanging over the lake. I had never really seen it like that in the summer time. And sure enough about an hour later the mist was gone. The kids and I were so lucky to have had the opportunity to spend a good deal of time up at the lake. And the best times are during the week when the population goes down so much. You can have a whole day and see only 1 or 2 boats on the lake - now that is peaceful!

Back to reality! The kids start school on Tuesday. Yeah! - They got the teachers I wanted for them....! On Monday they have a back-to-school picnic that I hope that I can make - if civic duty interruptous doesn't take that away from me - I'll be happy. I thought about postponing my jury duty but last time my group was dismissed the Friday before, no such luck this time! Bummer. I had a scheduled appt. for service on my car for Monday, that I'll have to reschedule now. And I can't miss the first day of school on Tuesday. What fun is being a stay-at-home mom if you miss the first day of school......I'm already dreading the drive out there. Had it not been for this article in the paper a few weeks ago I probably wouldn't be so anxious about it. All that mess makes me nervous. The Butte County Fair starts on Wednesday so I know we'll be making a few trips to Gridley and have to pass through there multiple times. Yuck! So I'm having a change of heart - yesterday it was that my group would not be called - now I'm going with "I'll be dismissed within the first hour"!....Now say that with me...."She'll be dismissed within the first hour".....Keep going.....The power of the secret.....I should finish that book!

Our Fashionista

This is how I found Karlee one day in the kitchen watching the boob tube..... This is the girl that changes her clothes 5 times a day.....She can't just throw a shirt on - it's two shirts minimum and layered just so.....Usually with a belt around her waist. And apparently this is the appropriate way to lay on the kitchen floor when wearing a skirt!

I'm sure I have a little to do with the fashion thing - although I fail miserably at it myself - so not sure where she's gotten that part of it. But when she was little I loved dressing her up. I had some great hand me downs from my sister and I liked shopping for her. Which is kind of funny considering how much I dislike shopping all together! I think it's the art smart thing coming through. Now if I could get her to care about her room the same way she does her clothes I'd have it made!.....She's always good for putting a smile on my face though.....

Happy Birthday Baby!

I can still remember this day exactly from seven years ago. At this time (2:15 PM) we were just getting into the room at the hospital. I remember not really knowing what would actually happen. I remember telling my sister early in the morning that I thought today was the day and she left to go to Westwood to pick up my 16 year old niece who was going to view the birth (we called it good birth control). Anyway I called my husband around 9 AM and told him that the pain was about every 5 minutes and he said he'd finish things up around the office and come home. I called my mom who had spent the weekend with me as Kevin had been out of town, she'd gone home on Monday and here it was the next morning and it was time - I guess it was all the walking around Costco we'd done the day before. I then called my mother-in-law at work and told her she'd need to come to the house and watch Karlee as it was time. Of all days, she car pooled and didn't have a way home. My sister called about 10 AM to tell me that she'd had road construction all the way up there but that she was on her way back and she'd get there as soon as she could - I told her that Shannon would have to stay with Karlee until Saralee got there from work. Around 10 AM I called the doctors office and explained that the contractions had been every 5 minutes for the last hour. She told me that I'd need to get the hospital before too long. About an hour later Kevin still wasn't home and I called him again as now I was doubling over with each contraction and he said he'd be there before too long. My sister got there around 12:30 and Kevin was still not there. We were considering leaving without him but he finally got there about 1:30 and they jumped into the car and off we went - I remember how weird it was driving down the street towards the hospital in the middle of the day - everyone carrying on in there normal lives as we were on our way to bring a new life into the world. Strange! Anyway the nurse checked us into the room and left us and then the pain was really coming. My sister went out into the hallway looking for the nurse because she thought I was ready to start pushing and the nurse came back into the room like a 1/2 hour later and she was like "oh, I guess we better get the doctor here". At one point my sister whispered into my ear that she had a meeting to go to at 5:30 and could I hurry it up a bit. And sure enough there was my beautiful baby boy - Kyle Warren, 7 lbs. 8 oz., 21 inches, born at 4:08 PM. The nurse said at one point that it was a good thing I got into the car at the time I did or I might have had my baby at home.... I got to hold Kyle before they cleaned him up and it was amazing. I think I knew it was a boy the whole time. It was the same for me with Karlee - I was sure it was a girl the whole time. We didn't have any girls names picked out. Just Kyle - and so there it is......He's my love!