"The Expendables"

I have GOT to get my boys to this movie, it is soooo right up their alley....



Plus, that Stallone {Rambo} Dude, he's looking mighty fine for a 62 year old, if I don't say so myself. :0)

Knitting

Knitting has become my newest passion.

Don't get me wrong, I still crochet and not saying anything bad about crocheting, it's just that knitting looks so much more "put together", you know?
I love the patterns, the tiny little stitches, the way it just looks so "right".

A few weeks ago I got this crazy idea that I wanted to learn to knit.
Joanne's has classes but I didn't really want to get involved with the whole traveling back and forth thing so one day I You Tubed some beginner tutorials and in less then a week had this whole knitting thing down pat.

Is it difficult? Actually no. Believe it or not, all you need to learn is two stitches and everything just comes together after that.
It is way easier then crocheting, but, to be honest, the projects do take a lot longer. However, that being said, I love the projects so much more so it is for sure worth the extra effort.

After I practiced the two stitches {knit and purl} my main man, Karlio a/k/a Vinny, bought me two books at our local book store and Ba-Da-Bing, just like that, I've been on a roll.

So far, Adriana has at least six new super adorable hats for the winter.
Now, let's just hope we have another winter like last and she'll get tons of use of of them.
If not, playing "dress-up" will be in her future, cuz she's a wearing them and that's pretty much all there is to that. lol!

I'll have some pic's up real soon of the completed ones, this is from yesterday when I was finishing up a striped stocking hat.



This little almost three year old "Firecracker Diva" is gonna look so stinkin' adorable.
Being a Gramma is one of life's greatest joys, I swear it. :0)



And yes, your right if your thinking there is nothing in this world that I wouldn't do for her, especially when she sends me lil' video clips like that. :0)

Have a beautiful day and TGIF everyone!!

Three Little Skateboards...

Sittin' on a fence. :0)



Only two helmets though, what's up with that??

It's another busy day here. Errands to run, food to buy, swimming pools to clean, laundry to wash, dust bunnies to bust and football practice to attend.

Hopin' your day is not as busy as mine and you can kick back and enjoy the summer. :0)

Hero's

Yesterday started out as just another Sunday.
Karlio went to put in a few hours at work. The overtime is great and there is no shortage of things for him to fix, that's for sure.
I took advantage of him taking my jeep with him, by staying home and knitting a cute pixie hat for Adriana and after waking up lazy, eating some breakfast and basically looking pretty bored, the three kids {Kaysha, Kody and Kolin} decided to go take their skateboards down the street where it's less bumpy.
That didn't last but maybe 15 minutes when the heat was too much with those helmets on.
So, they came back home, grabbed a few waters out of the fridge and announced they were going to play some basketball.

It was still the middle of the day hot out but when they have a plan, they have a plan...there is no stopping them.

They weren't out all that long when I heard Kolin came tearing through the front lawn yelling something. So, I opened up the front door to what in the world was going on this time, thinking to myself "I swear they better not have thrown that damn ball through their Dad's windshield" and that's when he said "Mom, the neighbor's house is on fire!!"

And before I could even say anything I watched in perfect sequence...

Kaysha on her cell calling 911.
Kody and Kolin leaping the chain link fence that surrounds their yard. {I swear they never even touched the fence, those boys just about flew over it and so graceful too, sooo unlike their mother the klutz}
While Kody {who has a horrible fear of dogs} pinned down their doberman who was trying his best to bite the crap out of both of them, Kolin banged...I am talking almost tore the door down banged on their front door.
Now, in that house lives two grandparents, who are raising their two grandchildren.
Their vehicle was parked at the end of the driveway so they knew, no doubt somebody or all four were home.
The grandfather came to the door and I saw Kolin yell at him "Sir, your house is on fire!" while he pointed up to the roof, which by now not only had thick black smoke pouring out but flames as well.

Within seconds I saw him, his two grandchildren and his wife run out, still in their pajamas cuz as it turns out, they were all sleeping and had no idea.

I took the children into my house, and kept them occupied with some TV time while keeping them out of the middle of the drama outside.

My kids came in and out of the house bringing water to the grandparents who happened to have inhaled too much smoke while trying to run back in and rescue a few important things.
Kody stayed inside keeping the kids company so they wouldn't have to see what was going on just across the street.

All in all, I think about eight firetrucks lined our street, a bunch of sheriff's, a couple ambulances, two water cannon trucks and two emergency vehicles as well.

Our very quiet street was insanely crazy.

But, the fire was mostly contained to the attic and I believe one bedroom.
The people who live in it are 100% completely safe.
And because of the quick actions of three incredibly awesome kids, things did not get any worse then that.

And, because I am Mom, and Mom's love to brag about their babies, I am here today to tell you about this and how friggin' proud I am of my three I call my "hell raisers"
Of course, those hell raisers of mine were also taught to be humble and so it is very doubtful you'll ever hear a word out of them. :0)

Here's a few pic's that I caught yesterday. I was on the phone a lot describing to Karlio what was going on so I didn't get many. The flames were on the right side of the roof and eventually after a while the roof on that side caved in.
While I don't know 100% the cause, I did hear that it was very possibly caused by an attic fan. :0(

I was standing at the end of my driveway when I took these...















In that last picture, you can still see where they dropped their basketball.

Anyway, let's hope today is a lot less drama filled. lol!!

Wishing you all a great day today and once again I'm here with a super huge shout out to Kaysha, Kody and Kolin...

My Hell raisers ROCK!!!!!"

Signing off for today, One Very Proud Momma

What I've Been Busy Doing These Days

1. Walking down Wally World and shielding my boys eyes from the school supply isle.

2. Battling dead mosquitoes in the pool every morning.

3. Knitting colorful/quirky/whimsy hats for Adriana although she won't need them for six more months.

4. Taking out the camera in hopes of photographing something new and then realizing everything looks the same as it did yesterday.

5. Shopping at Sam's Club and imagining how cool it would be if I had lots of storage space and an electronic label maker so I could organize like a pro.

6. Devising new ways to make leftovers look like I spent a lot of time and effort in making them look spectacular.

7. Making and jarring my own marinara sauce.

8. Hand writing cute labels for my jarred sauce that say "Momma Provolone's Marinara". It just makes those mason jars look adorable, you know?

9. Dreaming of re-vamping my bedroom. Why suddenly do I have this insane desire to have an all white bed set?

10. Twittering. Why? Because it makes me feel like I'm livin' on the edge when I mobile "tweet". lol!

Hmmmm, I guess that about describes my world.

I hope your world is a whole lot more exciting then mine. :0)



Just another photo of my crepe myrtle tree that is growing in our back yard.

Here's the same photo. Warning: May cause dizziness and a sudden craving for strawberry Twinkies and pink lemonade.



Have a great day everyone!!

Smoke Bombs

Over the weekend my two hell raisin' boys were quiet. Too quiet. That is so not good.
When I walked out of the living room and into the kitchen I swore I thought I saw smoke in the backyard.
Smoke? Quiet boys? Hmmmm...better check.
Better yet, better bring the camera, just in case you never know, you know?

I know they saw me coming. I'm quite clumsy and not real quiet.

This is what I saw when I said "Hey, what are you two up to?"
"nuthin'" they said.



"no, really, what are you doing. I saw smoke"

"we ummm, we...we...ummm, you don't see nuthin' Momma. You especially don't see Kody trying to hide the evidence".




"OK Mom, we were lighting smoke bombs, but Daddy said it was OK so go talk to him, OK"





"Momma it was mostly Kody, I swear"









"Sure Kolin no problem, I believe you 100%. NOT! Because I know the 'I'm outta here look' when you've been caught with the bigger stuff"



Have a great (and hopefully smokeless) day everyone!!

PS. Kody's EEG went great this morning. We'll have the results back at his next appointment on August 9th. :0)

Sunday....

Good Morning!!





Have a beautiful day all. :0)

Keeping Up With The Twitter

I know, I know I have been pretty horrible about the blog this week.
But....in my half lame excuse of a defense, I have been a little busy this week, honest I have. :0)

So, to make up for, in case you haven't noticed it yet, I have become a "Twitter". See it, it's right there on your right. That's me in that black and purple box and that is how, on those off days or anytime I just feel I need to blurt out my warped thoughts, you can see them there.

The fun thing is, I feel like I've mini updated and I can tweet anywhere on my cell.
I am a texting loving fool, so it's just another one of those many ways I can entertain myself during the day while my kids harp on my back about being bored to death.

On a long boring line a Wally World pharmacy...Tweet!
Watching Kolin's 2 1/2 hour practices...Tweet!
Making dinner...Tweet!
Having a pedicure...Tweet!
Downloading a week's worth of photos...Tweet, Tweet, Tweet!

The only place I won't tweet from is my jeep. Sparkly is a "No Phone Zone". :0)

So, there you have it. If the blog somehow gets lost in the madness of life, feel free to see what's up in my small part of this gigantic world by eavesdropping in on my tweet thang. :0)

Cuz I have a hard time with my OCD if I don't leave behind a picture of some sort, this is what's been growing in our back yard this past week due to the endless amounts of rain we've been having, which basically explains those "Mom we are sooo bored" comments I've been hearing lately.



BTW, Kody came home from camp yesterday morning. Happy, exhausted, full of camp adventures, thrilled that he got to buddy with a newbie 6 year old, even more thrilled that he got the calling to become an LIT (leader in training) when he turns 17 and is too old to actually attend camp and the best part, he didn't even smell half bad. LOL!

Have a beautiful day everyone!!

Doin' The Football thing

Just a few from last Thursday night.
It was soooo hot, and the sun was just beating down bad.
So, imagine how happy we were when coach decided to put all the kids in the shade.

Yes, the shade was a great hit, but even greater for me cuz you see while everyone else took it as a reprieve from the sun, I thought...

"Hmmmm, open shade, sweet evening light, a perfect setting for some beautiful almost sunset photos"

And so I was on my way, look at that beautiful orange/pink glow.

"Conditioning practice" is what they call it. I guess it means getting kids used to being active out in the heat.
Other then blowing things up on our TV screen, Kolin is pretty good at being outside in the heat.

There's lots of listening to instruction, especially kids like mine who is a newbie at this football thing {other then backyard football but I guess that doesn't count for much in the real world, lol}



Lots of push-ups, especially when someone messes up, which thankfully wasn't my kid. hehe...



It was so cool the way coach picked him to go against here. He always spends a lot of time with Kolin and that is awesome too.



So for a couple more weeks we'll be doing this two times a week then on August 2nd it gets kicked up to 5 times till games start at the end of August and then it goes back to four plus game day which still makes it five, doesn't it?
I don't mind though, kids who stay busy and are butt tired at the end of the day are my kind of kid. :0)

Have a great day everyone!!

Camp Time Quality Time

Yes, it can be done..packing for a week in less then 24 hours.
Know how?
Well, it's "camp" and he's a "boy" so all of those 6 sets of shorts, shirts, socks, boxers {sorry Bear}, etc., probably won't be worn much anyway.
You know, even I had to laugh a little. I remember the first year Kody went to camp. A few days before I went out and spend well over $200.00 {sorry Karlio} on matching outfits and all kinds of travel sized stuff, a new toothbrush, littel over priced cases to keep all those travel sized things in, you name it, I really thought he had to have it.
He had with him three enormous rolling suitcases.
When he came home everything, seriously EVERYTHING I bought him was rolled up in exactly the same way I packed it.
On a happier note, his school clothes shopping was done early that year. :0)

Anyway, every year I downsize a little, every year I buy less and less.

This year I bought absolutely nothing. Yea, nadda, zippo, nothing at all. Just grabbed whatever I didn't care that got filthy out of his closet, a couple swim trunks and a few personal toiletries {deo, toothbrush, etc.} out of the bathroom and in a medium sized duffel bag, everything fit no problem at all.

I left him yesterday looking like this...



And I am sure when he get's home on Wednesday he'll look pretty much the same.
Gotta love camp. LOL!!

With Kaysha on vacation in Ocala this leaves us with only Kolin.
Talk about eerily quiet in this house, wow..so this is what's it's like to have one kid.
Call me crazy but I do love the madness of having 6. :0)

Anyway, I will have lots of quality time with Kolin, which he needs so it'll be great.
Today he is teaching me how to play PS3 Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2 and how to properly throw a football.
Tomorrow I teach him how to make the best blueberry cheesecake in the world and maybe a thing or two about dusting.
Hey, what's fair is fair, right? :0)

Hope you all have a great day today!!

Spidey

I have to give Central Florida props, we do have some pretty cool looking spiders around here.
Like for instance, this beautiful one I found just hanging around outside...



I used an 85mm 1.8 prime fixed focal lens on that so no zoom feature at all. In fact, the "zoom" is my own legs. You have to physically move yourself to get closer, so yeppers, I had to move pretty close to him.
No worries though, spiders don't phase me in the least.
Now, those stupid frogs...Holy crap, I am terrifies of those stupid things. LOL!

Have a terrifc day everyone.
Life as I know it, is beautiful.

Oh, btw...I got a call from Camp Boggy Creek this morning. Seems they had a cancellation for North Florida week {Kody's normal summer session} so instead of him leaving in a few weeks, he is actually leaving for 6 days starting tomorrow.
He is one excited kid. Getting away, on his own {kind of} for a while, basically not many rules, no Mom, Dad, semi annoying little brother, pita sister, heck yea who wouldn't love that? :0)

Never Trust A Kid Named Kolin

Especially if you are relaxing on a hot day in the pool. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. :0)













Here's hoping your day is going a lot better then Kody's...or is that Kolin's? LOL!!

***Disclaimer***
No hell raisin' crazy teenage boys or one very pricey camera or one dry Momma were hurt in the makings of today's blog post.

Made In The USA

Is certainly wasn't a sunshiny day yesterday, but it wasn't all that bad either. A little rain and mostly very overcast.

We let these two loose with some explosives. LOL, OK maybe not "explosives", just about 80 or so bottle rockets.
This was the first time we actually let them go for it without us protectively standing over them.
Watching them from the back porch, yes. Hovering not so much.

Please excuse the hair, they had just gotten out of the pool not long before I took these and well, pool hair is gross, especially uncombed pool hair. Kolin! LOL!!









This one here is particularly fond of blowing stuff up {scary}...



We hope your day was a good one too and an even better one today!!