Earth Day

Happy Earth Day! :-D

We have so much earthly beauty all around us. Here are some gorgeous examples of Mother Nature's handiwork, right outside our front door.

Scrappy Friday

I've been sneaking in a little scrapbooking here and there! :) Here's some of the stuff I've been working on. The heart-shaped one is a mini-album I've been keeping under wraps; was going to submit it, and now I've decided not to, so I'm sharing some of it here. Enjoy, and Happy Friday to everyone!

High School Nicknames

In case anyone was wondering about how I chose the name for the blog, it's one of my nicknames from high school. My friend Ann was "Annabelle" and so that made me "Franabelle." When I started thinking about blogging, I asked family & friends if they had blogs and what the names were. Responses ranged from "What's a blog?" to "You should use Franabelle.com!" I didn't want to use only my name, and I wanted something kinda catchy, of course. Plus--I was thinking the name probably wouldn't be in use already, hehe. Somewhat boring backstory, I suppose.

While I don't use that nickname anymore, some of my, uh, older friends from back in the day still call me that! ;-D I have a few other nicknames: Narf, Frannie, even Frannie Goonie. In my junior year of high school, our homecoming theme was Urban Cowboy. The night before the game was a pep rally we called Thunder and we did a takeoff of the show "Hee-Haw." Here's a picture of me with my friend Annabelle at Thunder in 1980. Flannel--still a classic.

Friday Update - Room 6 Rockets!

John Sam got a first place ribbon today at his school's "X-Games" !!! His blue ribbon is for getting first place in the soccer kick! Wahoo John Sam! His class made their own t-shirts to wear for the event. Go Room 6 Rockets!

Friday Style

Caroline couldn't decide which shoes to wear today after her teacher confirmed yesterday that she wasn't allowed to wear Tinkerbell flip flops to school. The girl is stylish, yes? :)


Coming up this weekend: blasts from the past!

Grumpy and Cute

~This is the grumpy look I got when I asked John Sam to let me take a picture of where he lost his tooth! A little funny that he can be very grumpy and very cute at the same time. It's also highly possible that I take too many pictures.



~They always have so much fun on "Daddy's bed."






I think I finally figured out the image enlargement glitch. If I put the photos on "left alignment," suddenly, the links seem to work! Yay! Happy Thursday to everybody!

"Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret . . ."

Remember that book for teenage girls called Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume? I can't tell you how many times I read it over and over. One of the most genuine books around, at least for girls. Wondering today if God is listening to anything I say/ask/write/pray. I finally received word yesterday (after the 3rd weekend of being left hanging, no less) that I didn't get a job I'd interviewed for. I was more disappointed than I thought I'd be once I knew for sure. Seems like I keep changing what I want. But I really was sad because it would've been a great position for me. Oh, I know what I'm supposed to say "God has something better in mind" or "You know, God takes care of sparrows and He'll take care of you, too." It's hard to keep upbeat when it feels like nobody is listening. And when you don't get what you want. And when you feel guilty that you're not feeling more positive about life in general.

But the darndest thing happens, even when I feel way down in the dumps. John Sam lost another tooth last night, and Caroline still tried to beat him getting dressed this morning. The world keeps turning around, and the sun will even come up later. Life marches on, no matter what's on my mind today. I am glad I've got a lot to keep me busy and maybe by the time I get a chance to rest idle, I'll notice that someone really does listen - on His own time. I need a little more practice with that!

Piles or Stacks?

~~Should I call them piles or stacks? LOL! I know what's in each of them, the specific order in which they seem to be randomly arranged, and whether or not anybody moves or touches them! ;-D

~~Everywhere I look, I see stuff I want to do, stuff I ought to do, and stuff I know perfectly well I'm not gonna do anytime soon and should put away but I still just like having out.

~~School starts again next week and that means our routine will be more normal. Lunches, homework, singing & commuting. Not to mention laundry, housekeeping, doggy day care. Whew! Here's hoping I can get rid of some of the stacks--household or otherwise.

The View from Here

One of the "do absolutely nothing days of spring break" happened today. Took some rainy photos; by the time I got them downloaded and uploaded (LOL), it had stopped raining. Sun came out a little, but it's supposed to rain more later. The last two photos are taken from my window, the one looks as if my camera was wet, but it was just the window.

April showers = Beautiful flowers! A few nights ago, we got some nice flowers from our yard, and he who will not be named even though he is totally secure in his manhood arranged them! They look great, IMO. Very fragant and they lasted an unusually long time.

Slackers and Cousins

Not necessarily in that order! {wink} Just wanted to post these out-takes of my most recent photo session of cousins! Everybody always wants to know why I take sooooo manyyyyyy pictures . . . . it's so I can get at least one decent one! Hands down, though, the funniest ones are the in-between the poses photos.

This is the third year I've forced everyone to pose together for pictures. Those pesky kids just keep growing. Whassup with that?!